


The Summer of the Lima Bean

by adampascalfan



Series: The Summer of the Lima Bean [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: discussion of cannon sexual assualt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 09:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 77
Words: 122,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2687600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adampascalfan/pseuds/adampascalfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The class of 2013 has graduated and summers in Lima will never be the same.  Spoilers for all aired episodes through New Directions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this is what happens when my muse takes a smart ass comment I make as an actual story suggestion. slowly uploading this one from my Tumblr. It's not complete yet but I am pretty far into the process.

**May**

“I can’t believe you guys are leaving tomorrow.” Marley sighed as she sat down in the oversized chair next to Unique’s position on the couch.  She smiled a thanks as Artie maneuvered his way next to her, passing the tray of drinks he had brought with him from the counter.  “It’s just wrong this is our last New Directions meeting at the Lima Bean.”

“Especially since there is no such thing as New Directions anymore.” Jake grumbled from the opposite side of the circle.  Marley shot him a dirty look as Tina punched his arm as she walked around him to sit next Blaine.  

“We have to work on your skills man.” Artie shook his head. “We can not hang out all summer if you’re going to continually bring everyone down.”

“New Directions is more of a state of mind than anything else.” Ryder spoke up. Jake gave a reluctant nod of appreciation for the support.

“Ok who let you talk to Joe?” Kitty wondered as she dipped her finger into the whip cream on her hot chocolate.  “Because I am not dealing with Buddhist Ryder again. Once was enough”

“Guys I’m serious.” Marley started to gesture her arms around forcing Unique to lean closer to Ryder for protection.  “Blaine and Sam are leaving for New York tonight.  Artie and Tina are moving at the end of summer.  There’s no New Directions next year thanks to Principal Sylvester.  This is like….the last time we’ll all be here together as New Directions in the Lima Bean. It’s sad.”

“P.S. Debbie Downer that’s why we didn’t let you do a speech at the party last night.” Kitty pointed out from over the top of her cup.  

“Yes this is supposed to be a happy celebration. We agreed the tears were for graduation only.  I for one am not wearing waterproof mascara today.” Unique agreed.  

“Marley we’ll still see each other.” Blaine said with a smile, his hand stretched out to grab hers.  “We’ll be coming back for breaks and holidays.”

“And since Blaine will be living with Kurt we actually stand a chance of seeing them separately.” Tina stage whispered to the rest of the group with a giggle.  She stuck her tongue out at Blaine when he turned to shoot her a ha ha very funny glare.  

“Fact!” Sam declared with a loud clap of his hands that startled the elderly couple two tables over. “We are all awesome at Skype. And nothing but Skynet becoming actualized will stop us from using it.  And then I’m positive we can train pigeons to communicate for us because pigeons of course will not be suspected by Skynet.”

Artie shook his head at Blaine. “I thought we agreed no more Terminator.  You realize he’s going to do Arnold your entire drive to New York right?”

Blaine shrugged his shoulders.  “We marathoned _The Sarah Connor Chronicles_ on Netflix.  He distracted me with Brian Austin Green.”

Artie nodded solemnly.  “Yeah that would do it.  He grew up fine”

“Not to mention the tattoos.” Kitty added in agreement while Tina shook her head at the couple in complete confusion on just how they exactly worked.

“Never going to understand you two.” Ryder sighed shaking his head.  

“Look if there is one thing I figured out this year it’s that our relationships aren’t defined by the choir room.” Blaine leaned forward, earnestness in his voice.  “Things are going to change but we’re still going to be friends.  You guys are all part of my family and family means no one gets left behind.”

Tina’s mouth dropped opened. She reached behind Blaine’s back to smack the back of Sam’s head.  “You watched _Lilo & Stitch_ without me?  TRAITOR!”  

“Ow! Hey it was Blaine’s idea!”

“You agreed to it and you know the rules.” Tina pointed out before punching Blaine in the arm.  “You. I can’t believe you.”

“Tay Tay.  I ….texted you?”  Blaine offered up weakly as the rest of the group shot him disappointed looks. Even Jake shook his head at him.  “I’ll make it up to you?”

“Make it up to me how?”

“Trip to the Disney store in Times Square?”

“We’ll talk.”  Tina tried to keep her arms crossed stiffly across her middle but when Blaine reached over to tickle her neck she couldn’t keep the smile back.

Marley offered up a watery smile at her friends all gathered around her.  This time last year she was looking at yet another move and another new school.   She doubted anyone from Monroe High School even knew, let alone cared that she moved away.  And now she had four friends who were leaving and all of them promising they would keep in touch. Calling her family.  

 **  
** “Ok.” Ryder clapped his hands together distracting Marley from her thoughts.  “We already know Blaine and Sam are going to have the most awesome summer ever in New York.  Which means we have to work even harder to have a better one here in Lima.  Who’s with me?”


	2. Chapter 1

**June**

“When does your shift end again?” Artie asked as Ryder moved to bus the table next to where he and Jake were sitting.  “The light is _perfect_ and we don’t want to waste it.”

“What he means is the Cheerios practice is starting soon and if we pretend for it’s for his movie project Kitty won’t call him a perv for filming her practicing.” Jake smiled as he tossed a crumpled up napkin into the buser’s tray with ease.  “ _Again_.”

“I have another 30 minutes. I would have been done an hour ago if someone didn’t quit last week.” Ryder pointed out, grabbing the empty cup in front of Jake.

“I told you. I get paid better helping out at the dance studio.” Jake protested as he protected the last piece of his biscotti from Ryder’s eager hands. “I’m not done with that.”

“Sam says you mean Marley doesn’t hang out at the dance studio.” Artie corrected with a nod as he finished off a text message before looking up.  “He also says hi.  Bro if we’re going to be waiting on you, you should at least score us cookies.”

“What does Sam have to do with this?” Jake protested.  “He’s not even here anymore.”

“He’s bored.” Artie shrugged.  “He’s not booked a job yet and there’s only so many times a person can be third wheel with Blaine and Kurt.”

“I thought Mercedes was in town?”  Ryder pointed out.

Artie shook his head.  “Those two will be married before they would ever admit to liking each other.  Trust me. Kurt is all over that situation.  But our  man Jake here is still avoiding Marley.”

Ryder nodded as he sat down.  The coffee shop was slow for the moment and he was almost done with his shift.  He was pretty sure Carrie behind the counter would cover for him if the manager really got mad.  “Like a complete and total punk.”

It was still shaky between him and Jake, especially on the subject of Marley.  But it had gotten better when Marley continued to not date either one of them. Or anyone really.  It was probably not the best idea ever to push their fragile peace over the subject of Marley. But Jake really was being a punk.

“I’m not being a punk.” Jake declared defensively.  “She’s made it clear she doesn’t want to talk to me and me being here will make everyone else uncomfortable.  You know the girls have pretty much moved in here this summer.”

Artie scoffed.  “Oh please.  This is child’s play. Tina and I _know_ from awkward.  You two barely rank top ten in glee club awkward dating moments.  When we XBox with Sam tonight remind him to tell you about the time Santana forgot to dump him before fake dating Karofsky. And make sure to ask him at a time when I’m in position to take him out.  I want payback for Sunday night”

****  
  


“You can’t avoid each other forever.  Lima isn’t _that_ small man.” Ryder pointed out.  “Plus you know we all scheduled to have the same lunch period next year.  You can’t skip that all year. Unique will hunt you down for it.”

“Pretty sure she’d be hunting you down bro.” Jake quirked an eyebrow up.  “Don’t think the rest of us haven’t noticed.”

“Noticed what? Unique and I are friends. _Jus_ t friends.”

Artie cleared his throat. “As the only member of New Directions to ever remain friends with all my exes….”

“I thought that was Sam.” Jake interrupted.

“He only thought he was friends with Santana while he dated Brittany.  Sam is naive.” Artie shook his head.  “Anyway, if I acted with Tina the way you and Unique act? Kitty would dump my ass.  Publically.  Also literally.”  

“You’re both crazy.” Ryder declared as he jumped to his feet, bouncing a little on his heels.  “Come on.  I have to finish up in the back.  By the time you two get your crap together it will be time to help Artie perv on his girlfriend and help Jake avoid his ex like a wuss.”

~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t care if he is going to film school, I’m going to break that damn camera.” Kitty announced as she fell back into the oversized chair a few steps away from the Lima Bean counter.  “That was the third time this week. And he’s drawing Ryder and Jake into his madness.”

“Ok first off it’s really sweet he wants to have all these videos of you before he moves.” Marley pointed out as she sat down between Tina and Unique on the couch, dropping her purse on the floor.  “Second you know full well if you ask him to stop, Artie will stop.”

“You mean he would come up with another movie idea that would require him to film me constantly to justify his perv tendencies.” Kitty rolled her eyes.

“Girl everyone knows that boy is gone over you.” Unique smiled at the cheerleader.  “You just don’t want to admit you like him just as much.”

“And that you do want to do long distance with him.”  Marley chimed in leaning forward.

“Hashtag Amen.” Unique threw her hand not holding her iced soy mocha latte in the air.

“I will admit nothing to the person who won’t admit she’s flirting with Ryder Lynn.” Kitty smirked slowly.

“Yes.” Marley grabbed Unique’s arm.  “You’ve been leaving details out there.  I saw how he was looking at you the other day.  You saw it too right Tina?”

Marley turned, expecting to see Tina nodding along eagerly and ready to press for details.  She and Tina has spent much of last night texting their theories on what exactly Ryder and Unique were doing to each other.  (Marley’s personal favorite was Tina’s theory Unique had volunteered to be the Johnny Castle to Ryder’s Baby because _“traditional gender casting aside come on Marley you know I’m right.  Ryder would totally brag about carrying a watermelon.  I think he said exactly that at the graduation party”_ )  Instead Tina was staring at someone in the line, a look of complete confusion on her face.  “Tina? Earth to Tina.”

“Who are you…..Tina Cohen-Chang are you checking out that fine specimen of a man in the middle of the line?” Kitty questioned as Unique and Marley shushed her through giggles.  “It’s about time you showed interest in someone who isn’t gay.”

“I’m not staring at him….” Tina shook her head. “I am staring at him but not for that reason.”

“Too bad.  Unique pursed her lips together. “He is cute and I would advise you jump on that pronto.”

“No I think i know him.  It’s been like three years but I think…..” Tina stood up, straightening out her dark blue skirt as she did.  “Matt? Matt Rutherford?”

Marley, Kitty and Unique all looked at each other mouthing the word “who?” as the guy in question did in fact turn around.  Tina’s face broke out into a wide grin.  His face was a little thinner and that scruffy not shaving was something that totally worked for him but the smile was still the same.  Leaving her friends behind in confusion Tina rushed across the coffee shop to tackle Matt in a hug.  “Matt!  What are you doing here?”

“Getting coffee?” Matt laughed as he returned the hug. “Tina Cohen Chang it’s good to see you.”

“What are you even doing in town?  You know what hold on that.  Get your coffee and then come sit with me and my friends.  And I’ll call Artie and he can get his butt over here.”

 

“Is it just you and Artie in town?”

“Yeah.  Rachel, Kurt, and Santana are in New York. Mercedes is up there for the summer.  I’m not sure of all the details there. Quinn’s taking summer classes at Yale.  Britt’s at MIT.”

“MIT? _Our_ Brittany?”

“Yeah long story. Mike’s still in Chicago which I assume you already knew.  Puck’s finishing up basic training in the Air Force. And Finn….” Tina faltered as she said Finn’s name.  “Matt…”

“I heard.” Matt said quietly.  “Mike called me.  I tried to come back for the funeral but there was a test I couldn’t get out of and my parents were a tough sell.”

“Kurt mentioned he got your flowers now that I think about it.  I heard they were pretty.”  Tina smiled sadly.  “But I’m glad you’re here now. Much better place for a reunion.”

“Way better.” Matt smiled as he noticed he was now at the front of the line.  “So I’m going to order…”

“I’ll be right over there.” Tina smiled as she hurried back to dig her phone out of her purse.  She ignored the impatient looks her friends gave her, clearly waiting for an explanation as she pushed through change, broken pens, hair bands and various store loyalty cards trying to find her phone.”Why does it always fall to the bottom?  I need to call Artie!”

“Need to call Artie about what?” Kitty asked, her arms crossed over her chest.  “You want him to film your wedding to tall, dark, handsome Mysterious Stranger over there?”

“No. I need to let him know Matt is back in town. He’s going to flip.”

“Matt? Who’s Matt?” Marley asked looked between Kitty and Unique.

“That would be me?” Matt offered with a hesitant smile as he approached the four.

Tina gave up her search for her phone as she moved to make introductions.  “Matt this is Kitty, Unique and Marley.  They’re in New Directions with me.  Guys this is Matt Rutherford.  He was in New Directions with me and Artie in our freshman year.  Then he transferred and abandoned us.”

“Hey I talk to Mike, Artie and Kurt on Facebook all the time.” Matt protested. “Nice to meet you ladies.”

“You were in New Directions at the start?” Unique questioned.  “Then sit down and tell us that Mr.Schue was always two steps behind on the clue train.”

 

“Pretty sure he never got on that train.” Matt smiled as he sat down next to Tina.  “Did we ever figure out how lightening and swimming pools were enemies?”

“I’m going to go my grave figuring that one out.” Tina sighed and shook her head.  “What are you doing here?  I thought you moved to Indianapolis.”

“I did but I was offered a scholarship at UD.  So I’m staying with my aunt and helping her out her dance studio and then I’m starting in the fall.”

“Your aunt’s dance studio?” Marley’s voice nearly squeaked on the question.  “The Lima Dance Academy?”

“Yeah.  Do you take classes there?”

“No but her ex does.” Kitty shook her head.  “Which means she’s refusing to take Zumba with the rest of us this summer.”

“Even though she dumped him for his manwhore ways.” Unique added.  “And he should be hiding from her.”

“Except when he’s with Artie and Ryder.” Tina reached over and patted Matt’s arm.  “They were in New Directions together.”

“I guess some things are never going to change.” Matt laughed.  “Please tell this one didn’t involve any who’s the daddy drama.”

“Oh we’ve evolved past that.” Tina smiled as she noticed a text notification go off on her phone.  “Artie says he’s on his way so we best and I’m quoting here _be ready to get our part-tay on_ ”  Tina shook her head.  “Kitty you’re dating him. Can you inform him his attempts to sound like Eminem are so 2009?”

“What can I say? It does it for me.” Kitty shrugged her shoulders.  

Seeing Matt open his mouth, a question clearly in his eyes Unique and Marley held up their hands. “Don’t ask.” they said in unison.

“I see I have a lot to catch up on.” Matt laughed.

“Don’t worry” Marley smiled.  “Sam and Ryder made a flowchart once and have an entire presentation to go along with it.  They will be glad to catch you up.  Gives Sam a chance to work on his Mr. Schue impression.”

 

“At this point I’ll be happy actually meeting people that have only been names on Facebook to me.”

“You were never just a name to me.” Tina smiled, leaning over to hug him again. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

**  
**“And we’ve got all summer together.” Matt hugged her back, shooting a wink.


	3. Chapter 2

“You know what I miss most about the choir room?” Marley asked the semicircle of her friends crowded around Artie’s laptop while Sam and Blaine looked on from New York.  They had decided to have their weekly group Skype session at the park which may have been a slight mistake.  Ryder was paying no attention to the group and entirely too much attention to the nearby dog park.  (Not that she blamed him.  She had counted at least five puppies she was pretty sure were begging for her to come and pet them.)

“Bossing around the jazz band?” Kitty guessed.

“Seeing how long it took Brad to look like he wants to kill Mr.Schue?” Tina giggled.

“Spitball fights!” Sam offered while Blaine shoved him.

“No.  I miss singing with you guys.  Working out numbers for a lesson of the week we never understood why we needed to do.  Rehearsing for competition.  We sang together pretty much every day.” Marley shrugged her shoulders.  “I just miss it.”

“Honey you know me and you have a standing date with my karaoke machine all summer.” Unique pointed out.  

“No I know that but it’s just not the same.” Marley waved her hands in the air.  “I like performing but I like watching you guys perform too.”

“We could still do private performances.” Artie shrugged his shoulders.

“Dude!” Ryder and Sam yelled at the same time.  Sam rolled his eyes and continued.  “We told you we don’t want details about your sex life.”

“They don’t want details of someone’s sex life? Sam are you sure you’re a guy?” Kitty asked.

“We don’t need the choir room to perform.” Artie said, pushing his glasses up his nose.  Jake flipped his shades on as everyone else turned to look at Artie.  “We’ve kind of become masters of coming up with things to do with or without Mr. Schue’s help.  We even came up with lessons plans without him this year.”

“I think you mean we came up with lessons plans.” Blaine corrected pointing between himself and Sam.  “But Artie’s totally right we can still sing together.”

“Gosh so glad Mr. and Mrs. Anderson adopted me so I can now fly back and forth to New York all summer.” Kitty sarcastically exclaimed while grabbing Tina’s arm as Tina giggled and Jake failed to hide his smile.

“I was referring to the internet Kitty.  We could do hangouts, Youtube videos.  We can still sing together it will just take some creativity.  Not to mention it would be great practice for me and Tina.  And Marley, Unique, remember Mercedes was discovered thanks to Youtube.  You want to be a singer. It would be great exposure for you.  And not to mention you with your dancing Jake.  And Artie you can work on your directing stuff.”

“Breathe our Preppy Prince” Unique commanded. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t have to convince most of us but those you did? You had at no more pervy cheerleader movies from Artie.”

“My movies are art.” Artie protested crossing his arms.  

“Pervy art.” Kitty corrected.  “It sounds about nine kinds of lame but I have nothing better to do so I’m in.”

“I’m in too.” Marley smiled widely.  “So’s Unique.”

“Since when did I lose the ability to speak for myself?” Unique asked.  “You aren’t wrong but I can say it myself.  Unique never misses an opportunity for performance.”

“And with me that makes all the girls.” Tina smiled.

“I want the record to show my art is not pervy.” Artie pushed his glasses up his nose before straightening out his sweater vest.  “But yeah sounds fun.”

“As long as no one wants to use the Lima Bean for the performance space, I’m cool.” Ryder shrugged, drumming a pattern on his thighs.

“Yeah fine whatever.” Jake shrugged as he pulled some blades of grass out of the ground, ignoring the dirty look Marley shot him for his lackluster response.  

“Ok look I’m not doing this without some ground rules.” Kitty flipped her ponytail behind her shoulder.  “First off I know you two apparently live in the official hotel for former McKinley students moving to New York but I’m going to have to outlaw guest vocals.  Not unless we as a group approve it.  I was happy to help with the proposal but I am not spending my entire summer watching Blaine sing love songs to Kurt.  Or Sam.”

“For the last time _I was not singing to Sam_.”

“Dude we all know you want to do me.  Even Kurt. It’s cool.” Sam slapped Blaine on the shoulder.  “Ok then Artie can’t use any of his special effects.  It has to be something we call can figure out.  Even Ryder.”

Ryder nodded, not insulted at all at Sam’s comment.  Artie muttered just under his breath about his artistic vision being hampered but nodded as well.

“I suggest that whichever group doesn’t have Jake is allowed to work with Matt for choreography.” Tina spoke up.  “Sam and Blaine have Santana living with them to help.”

“That’s fair.  Matt’s the last guy to try to take over a group and make it all about him.” Artie agreed.  

“Great.” Jake pulled the brim of his baseball hat down over his eyes as he laid back on the grass. “Now can we figure out an assignment or whatever?  Some of us have to get to work soon.”

“Fine Mr. Enthusiasm.” Marley shared a look with Unique.  “Any suggestions?”

“Girls vs boys.” Unique suggested before leaning over to whisper to Tina.  “If we put Marley and Jake in the same group we’ll be accessories to a crime.”

“Seriously. We’re going to need to talk to both of them about that.” Tina whispered back.

“Sounds good to me.” Blaine chimed in.  “Any suggestions for a theme?  Other than Kitty’s suggestion for Marilyn Manson.”

“I will wear you down on that Blaine.” Kitty promised.  “I will get you to sing _Beautiful People_ with me before I graduate.”

Artie raised his hand.  “90s one hit wonders.  Only no _Macarena_.”  

“Oh! We should totally do _Legend of a Cowgirl_ ” Ryder jumped up enthusiastically, punching Jake in the shoulder.  

“Sounds like you gentlemen have your song.  Ladies, I suggest we adjourn to the Lima Bean to discuss our selections.” Unique went to stand up and Ryder offered his hand to help her, a move that made the rest of their friends exchange _well well looky there_ looks.    “When are we thinking of having these masterpieces ready?  Same time next week?”

“Yeah.  We’ll watch them together and then post them on Youtube afterwards.” Sam decided.  “If we are going to take over the world we are going to need exposure.”

“Is it too late to add in a rule about no superhero alter egos?” Kitty asked.  “We always end up running around in Spandex when Sam starts talking about world domination.”

“I have no objection to you running around in Spandex.” Artie pointed out.

“You better not.” Kitty smiled as she leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.  “We’ll discuss this later. In private.”

“Tell everyone hi for me guys!” Tina called out.  “Oh Blaine tell Kurt that he owes me for going to fabric sale for him but I got that silk he wanted.”

“Thanks Tay Tay.  He’ll love you forever.”  

“He better.  Bye Blam.”

“Bye Tina.  Actually I have to go meet a new student for piano lessons.” Blaine smiled.  “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“Xbox tomorrow?” Jake asked.

“If we make it early.  I have a go see in the morning.” Sam explained.

“I have the breakfast shift at work so that works for me.” Ryder agreed as Jake and Artie shrugged their shoulders in agreement.  

“Awesome.  Gentlemen… I leave defending Lima in your capable hands.”  Sam clicked off the Skype cam as Artie closed his laptop.

“Don’t tell her I said this but Kitty may have a point about the whole superhero thing.” Artie said as he started to put the laptop in his backpack.

“You say that like you don’t want to see your girlfriend in that catsuit again.” Jake pointed out.

“You say that like I haven’t.”

**  
**“Dude.  Again no one wants to hear about your sex life.” Ryder rolled his eyes. “Come on we have a kick ass number to plan.”


	4. Chapter 3

“Ok I’m here.” Marley announced, slightly out of breath.  Ever since she received Unique’s text to meet her at The Lima Bean for a Level 6 Best Friend emergency, Marley had ran the five blocks separating the coffee shop from the catering company she and her mom worked part time during the summer.  “What’s the emergency?  Was someone harassing you? Do I need to call Artie or Ryder to come give us a ride to your house?”

 

“The emergency is in what you just said.”  Unique pointed to the chair directly across the small table from her. “Sit.  This discussion is long over due.”

 

“Discussion?  Unique you said this was an emergency. I could get fired for leaving like this.”  Even as she talked Marley did follow her friend’s words and sat down.

 

“Girl please. We both know your momma loves me and will come up with a million stories to cover for you.” Unique waved off the concern.  “We need to talk about you and Jake.”

 

“There  is no me and Jake.” Marley pointed out.  “You know that.”

 

“Yes I do and this is not me telling you to forgive, forget and date him again.  This is me telling you that you two need to figure out some way to work together or all our New Directions fun this summer is going to be miserable for the rest of us.”

 

“We are working together and no one is miserable.”  Marley protested leaning back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest.

 

Unique raised her eyebrow. “Have I ever lied to you? No I have not.  We have always followed the rule of total honesty between besties and I am not about to break it now.  Now the rest of us may not be miserable just yet but the two of you are and that will make us miserable.”

 

“If Jake is miserable he deserves it.  I am fine.”

 

“Don’t even try to lie to me.  I know your tricks.  You are not fine.  You are so hurt and angry that Beyonce could write five secret albums dedicated to your pain.  And as your best friend I fully stand by you on that.  Jake Puckerman was wrong and needs to stop thinking with the smaller of  his two brains.”

 

“So if you agree with me then what do we have to discuss?”

 

“Because I also know that you Miss Marley Rose by nature are a forgiving person. And it kills you to  make someone else feel uncomfortable.  So I know your desire to make Jake regret his decisions more than American Idol regrets giving Jennifer Hudson the boot is making you miserable.  And our mildly functional group of friends’ Little Miss Sunshine shouldn’t be miserable.”

 

“I can be unforgiving.  I can hold a grudge.” Marley insisted, not even bothering to deny the fact she was in fact miserable.  She hated feeling this way. She hated feeling like a fool. Hated feeling like she should have somehow known this was going to happen. Hated wanting to avoid talking to Ryder and Artie because these days they were almost around Jake.  Hated feeling like she couldn’t enjoy working on their group performance because they rehearsed with Matt at the dance studio and Jake worked there. She hated Jake for making her feel this way.

 

And she hated herself for missing him the way she did.

 

“Your friendship with Kitty and Tina say otherwise.  You couldn’t hold a grudge if one tried to super glue itself to you.  You even played nice with the Warblers.”

 

“That was for Blaine. He needed them for the proposal.”

 

“You offered to work on choreography with them Marley.  For their next performance.”

 

“To be fair Trent was the one who asked.  And we like Trent.”

 

“Just stop. You can’t hold a grudge.  You’re way too nice for that.  You’re mad at him but I know you. You want to forgive him.”   Unique sighed and leaned across the table to pull Marley’s hand towards her.  “And may Beyonce forgive me for saying this, but I think you should.”

 

“Excuse me?” Marley moved her hand out of Unique’s.  “Weren’t you the one who was encouraging me to throw things through his windows? Now you want me to forgive him?”

 

“What I want is what is best for you.  And to make him squirm which you have done repeatedly.  And I am so proud of you for it.  But you’re avoiding him and the rest of your friends in the process and that is not good for you.”

 

“I am not avoiding anyone.”

 

“When was the last time you saw Ryder outside of our weekly meet-n-greets?” Unique questioned leaning back in her chair.  “Or talked to Artie?  And don’t think I didn’t hear you telling Kitty you might not be able to make it to her pool party this weekend.  I know your work schedule. You don’t have to work Miss Thing.”

 

Chewing on her bottom lip, Marley tucked her hair behind her ear.  “Maybe I have been avoiding everyone but I just don’t want to make it awkward or make people feel like they have to pick sides.”

 

“Everyone picked a side and it was yours.  They gave Jake hell and then they made the boy work for their forgiveness.  Which he did.  Now you are in danger of being a giant wet blanket this summer because you don’t want to accept the fact you jumped in the New Directions incestious dating tradition.  And with that comes seeing your ex all the time.”

 

“It just sucks.” Marley sighed.

 

“Not that I know from experience but I hear it does get better.  If it helps, Ryder says Jake is punishing himself enough for the both of you.”

 

“Really?  Ryder says?”  Marley smiled, eager to change the subject.  She would think on what Unique had to say and would at least consider not skipping the pool party.  But that was all she was willing to do.  “And when  exactly did you talk to  Ryder ?  What exactly is going on there?”

 

“Nothing is going. We’re friends. Or trying to be friends again.”

 

Marley put her hand up to her mouth and faked a cough. “Liar.”

 

“Unique does not lie.”

 

“Oh you so just did.  I know I was distracted a lot at the end of the school year but you two did not talk this much during school. And now you two are talking about me and Jake?  And he’s offering you his hand to help you up?  I clearly missed something and I want to know what.”

 

“Ryder and I have come to an understanding about the Katie thing.” Unique shrugged her shoulders as she adjusted her bangs with a practiced flip of her fingers.  “We are friends.”

 

“No Ryder and Kitty are friends.  Ryder and Tina are friends.  What he’s doing with you, he did with me and he wasn’t trying to be just my friend when he did stuff like that.”

 

“All this time alone has fried your brain.  Yet another reason why you need to stop this avoiding nonsense.  Now you’re seeing things.”

 

“Oh I’m seeing things. Sure.  Let’s call Kitty and Tina to meet us over here and we’ll see how much I’m seeing things.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Is ya man on the flo?

If he ain't...

Let me know

Let me see if you can run it, run it

girl indeed I can run it, run it

 

As the bass pounded in the empty dance studio, Jake closed his eyes as he stepped out of his spin.  Working at the studio did have one advantage over The Lima Bean.  Jennifer Reeves or Miss Jennifer as Jake had called his dance instructor for years, had no problem with him working on his own stuff when he wasn’t teaching a class.  And Miss Jennifer was giving his mom a break on the cost of his lessons for the summer.  Anything that meant his mom didn’t have to work quite as hard as she did was a good thing in his book.

 

The fact he could avoid a possible confrontation with Marley and all the girls from glee had been a bonus. (He didn’t care what Ryder, Artie and Sam said. He wasn’t being a wuss.  Blaine was totally on his side on that one.) But it would be his luck that the long lost Matt Rutherford had to be Miss Jennifer’s “favorite nephew” she had talked about coming to help out.  And Tina was determined to spend as much time with Matt as she could before she left in the fall so she and the rest of the girls were here constantly.

 

“That’s looking good.” Tina’s voice startled him into missing his next step.  “Sorry.” She apologized with a grimace as he stumbled into the dance bar. “I didn’t mean to mess you up.”  

 

He walked over to the dock that held his Ipod, wondering what exactly she was doing here.  Tina hadn’t froze him out completely like Marley and Unique did but they had also never been close. “Are you looking for Matt?  I think he’s got class down the hall.”

 

“I was looking for you actually.” Tina took a few steps closer to him, closing the door behind her.  “I thought we could talk.”

 

“Look if you came to figure out what we’re doing for our number you can forget it.” Jake grabbed his towel off the chair and tried to move past her and to the door.  Tina quickly jumped in front of him.

 

“It’s not about the number.  Well it’s sort of about the number but I’m not here to spy.  If I wanted to do that I would just steal Artie’s laptop and watch the footage he’s taped of your rehearsals.  No I wanted to talk to you.  About Marley.”

 

“If you’re to give the  I’m so disappointed in you Jake speech I’m sorry to tell you you’re about five people too late.  Been there. Heard that.”  Jake twisted to his left and managed to get around her, heading straight for the door.

 

“Did Artie or your brother ever tell you that when I started dating Mike, I hadn’t broken up with Artie yet?”  Tina asked quietly, her question stopping Jake as his hand hit the doorknob.

 

“What?”   Jake turned around to find Tina twisting her hands together.

 

“I’ll take that as a no then.” Tina offered up a sad smile.  “I guess to be fair, even Artie’s admitted he was a horrible boyfriend at the time but the truth is that when I left for Asian Camp we were still dating…”

“Wait, Asian Camp? That’s a real thing?”

 

“It’s very real mister. Don’t mock it.” Tina waved her finger towards him.  “And when I left Asian Camp I was making out with Mike whenever I could and I didn’t exactly tell Artie we were done until the first day of school.  Which was like a month later.”

 

“And you all had glee together.”

 

Tina nodded as she sat down in the middle of the floor, patting the space next to her for Jake to sit down. “And Artie and I had three classes together that year.  He and Mike had two I think?  It wasn’t exactly fun.  And Artie had every right to be pissed off and he was.  Mr. Schue did a duet competition and I wanted to win so I asked Artie to be my partner when Mike wouldn’t do it.  He blew me off to sing with Brittany.”

 

“Wow. So you’ve always liked to cause drama haven’t you?” Jake sat down next to her with a smile.  “I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re telling me this?”

 

“I know things are messy with Marley right now.  And I’m not going to tell you what you did was ok because I know you’re aware it wasn’t.  But don’t avoid the rest of us because you don’t want to make a scene?  You’re our friend too.  And like half of us are totally pros at variations of this situation.” Tina reached out and grabbed Jake’s shoulder.  “Stop making us hunt you down to see you.  We want to see you.”

 

“Marley doesn’t want to see me.”

 

“Not now. You’re right.” Tina nodded.  “But she forgave Kitty.  And Ryder and Unique seemed to have worked out their whole thing.  Blaine forgave me and Artie is one of my closest friends now.  It takes time but the New Direction track record does tend to go towards forgiveness.  Just give it some time?”

 

“Like this summer?”

 

“Like this summer.” Tina agreed squeezing Jake’s shoulder before dropping her hand.  “I’m sorry we didn’t talk like this sooner.  Marley’s my friend but so are you.”

 

“We’re friends? You and me?”

 

“Well you were willing to go to prom with me, even if you excused yourself at the last minute.” Tina smiled. “So yes. We’re friends.”

 

“Good.” Jake smiled back at her as she stood up, smoothing out her skirt.  “Thanks Tina.”

 

“That’s what friends do.” She pointed out as she moved towards the door.  “And just for the record, if you hadn’t excluded yourself from the running I probably would have picked you for my prom date.”

 

“Really now?”

 

“Really.” Tina smiled brightly.  “We’ll do a dance routine this summer for one of our performances.  Show everyone what McKinley missed out on.”

  
“You’re on Tina.”


	5. Chapter 4

Like the legend of the Phoenix

All ends with beginnings

 

“Aww yeah.   This is my jam.” Artie called out throwing his hands in the air from his self created DJ station.  He held up the IPod dock connected to the speakers Jake and Ryder had carried out from Kitty’s living room.

 

“Dude  every song has been your jam.” Ryder pointed out from the deep end of the pool where he was currently engaged in a splash war with Jake.  

 

“That should be our drinking game!” Jake exclaimed, momentarily stopping his attack.  “Drink every time Artie declares a song his jam!”

 

“For the last time Jake quit talking about drinking quite so loudly while my parents are still home.” Kitty’s eyes glared at him from over top of her sunglasses as she floated on a raft in the middle of the pool.  She tried not to look too pleased when Artie let out an appreciative wolf whistle as she adjusted the top of her hot pink bikini.  “What part of they don’t need to know are you forgetting?”

 

“Plus we aren’t aiming for black out drunk.” Tina offered from her position on a nearby deck chair, not even bothering to open her eyes. “I’d like to remember most of this party thank you. We won’t if we use that as criteria.”  

 

“A party to remember?” Ryder asked while he gestured for Jake to follow him out of the pool and make their way towards Tina’s chair.  “I think we can do that.”

 

The drops of water on her hand caused Tina to open her eyes, only to find Ryder and Jake standing over her chair with matching mischievous grins.  “What….guys…..”  she warned as they moved down to grab her by her ankles and under her arms.  “YOU GUYS PUT ME DOWN.”

 

“Nope! You are going in our Queen.” Ryder grinned as he and Jake dropped her into the deep end.  

 

Artie cheered and Kitty giggled as Tina came up sputtering, pushing hair out of her eyes.  Unique shook her head from where she sat with Marley on the side of the pool with their toes kicking back and forth in the water.  

 

“You two come near us and you will not live long enough to regret it.” Unique called out, waving her finger in the boys’ direction while tucking Marley next to her with her other hand.  

 

Kitty slid off her raft and made her way towards Tina, helping the other girl push her hair back once she got close enough. “You do know what this means don’t you T?” Kitty asked, winking to Tina.

 

“Yes I do.” Tina smiled back as she and Kitty turned towards where Ryder and Jake still stood at the side of the pool. 

 

“REVENGE!” Tina and Kitty yelled in unison as they began to splash Ryder and Jake.

 

“SPLASH WAR!” Ryder yelled as he cannonballed into the pool. Jake quickly followed suit.

 

“I’m glad you came today because there needs to be someone with my  level of class and sophistication at this party.” Unique whispered to Marley while adjusting the strap of her leopard print swimsuit.

 

Marley pushed her braid off her shoulder.  “I’m glad I came too.  You were right. This is a lot of fun and I would have hated to miss it.”

 

“I’m sorry what was that?” Unique cupped her hand over her ear.  “I was right?  I’m going to need you to remember that from now until the end of time.”

 

“I don’t think so.  Remember when you said I should dye my hair purple?”  

 

“You would have looked magnificent.”  Unique bumped their shoulders together.  

 

“Matt my man!”  Artie crowed as he spotted Matt coming into the backyard.  “You made it!”

 

“Wouldn’t miss it.”  Matt smiled as he and Artie exchanged fist bumps. “Thanks for inviting me Kitty.”

 

“Whatever. You were decent enough as a choreographer. RYDER I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”

 

“Gotta catch me first!”  

 

“Matt!” Tina yelled from the pool where she was attempting to dunk Jake underwater.  “I’ll see you in a minute after I show Puckerman here who is boss.”

 

“That would be me!” Jake shot back as he got his arms around her waist, lifting her up to dunk her again.

 

“Kitty! Help!” Tina giggled.

 

Kitty abandoned her pursuit of Ryder, swimming quickly behind Jake and jumping on his back.  “Ryder! Bro code!”

 

“Bro code says don’t get between a guy with two women fighting for him.”

 

“Do I want to know what started that?” Matt wondered.

 

Artie shrugged. “Probably not but it sure is fun to watch.”  He cupped  his hands over his mouth as Kitty succeed in pushing Jake’s head underwater.  “That’s my girl!”

 

“I heard that traitor”  Jake yelled back as he surfaced.  

 

“She’s cuter than you.”  Artie yelled right back before looking over at Matt.  “Come on. Ryder and Jake are supposed to be in charge of the grill but I think we’ve lost them.  I’m hungry. It’s time to get my grub on.”

 

“Lead the way.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Her plate loaded with food, Tina dropped into the lounge chair next to Jake.  “You should have brought your guitar.  We could go all beach party tonight.”

 

“We’d need a bonfire for that. No way is Kitty going to allow Artie and Ryder to make that.”  Jake pointed out.  

 

“True. That’s probably asking for trouble.” Tina laughed stabbing at the salad Marley brought with her fork.  “You weren’t trying to exile yourself all the way over here were you? Cause I thought we talked about that.”

 

“No.  Ryder was going to plan our next attack on Kitty but then Unique asked him to sit with her and Marley…” Jake shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t want this to be awkward for her.”

 

“She came.  And I don’t think she was going to so take it as progress.”  Tina tilted her head in the direction of the table Artie, Kitty and Matt were sitting.  “Come on.  You and Matt can compete to see how had the harder time choreography.”

 

“I had Ryder. That’s not even fair to compete with Matt.  He had all great dancers.”

 

“Even me?”

 

“Yes even you.” Jake stood up and offered his hand to Tina.  “You were damn sexy.”

 

“You are so much better at flattery than your brother.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And I’m not proud of my address

In a torn up town, no post card envy

 

It was long after the sun had gone down and the white Christmas lights Kitty had strung up around the patio had been turned on.  Artie continued to play dj but now everyone was taking turns dancing and singing along at the top of their lungs.  Marley smiled from her spot by the fire pit and watched as Kitty sat in Artie’s lap while Tina and Unique kept switching between Ryder and Jake as partners.  Matt returned from inside the house and narrowly avoided a spinning Tina.  

 

“So what’s a pretty girl like you doing all the way over here by yourself?” he asked as he sat down next to Marley.  “Not having fun?”

 

“I’m having plenty of fun.  I just didn’t want to dance to this song.”  She smiled. “But feel free to join me here.”

 

“Why wouldn’t you want to dance to this song?  It’s a great song and you are a great dancer.”

 

“Stop it. I’m ok.” Marley shook her head.  “Tina and Kitty are great dancers.  I’m just ok.”

 

“Come on now. I worked with you. You got some moves.”

 

“Tina did say you were really nice.” Marley rested her hands behind her back.  “Enjoying being back in Lima?”

 

“It’s a little weird but I’m getting used to it.” Matt nodded.  “Seeing Tina and Artie helps.  And getting to know you guys.  Of course I think you and I haven’t actually talked outside of me helping you guys.”

 

“We’ve talked.”

 

“We’ve talked about dance steps.  I think I’ve heard more about you from your friends than I have you.”

 

“There’s not much to tell. I like to sing. I want to be a songwriter.  I’m an ok dancer if horribly awkward when I’m trying to be sexy.  I’m a Katy Perry in a bunch of Gagas.”

 

“That sounds like a Mr.Schue lesson so I’m just going to pretend that last part make sense.  And you’re a good dancer. You just need confidence to own it.  LIke Unique does.  But that’s stuff you tell strangers. And you and I are a part of the same extended, admittedly dysfunctional family.  So we’re going to have to better than that.”  

 

“Oh are we know?”  Marley laughed.  “You know I could say the same thing about you.”

 

“Well I better change that.” Matt smiled as the song changed.

 

Ho Hey Ho Hey Ho

I’ve been trying to do it right (Hey)

I’ve been living a lonely life (Ho)

 

“And the first thing you need to know about me is I love to dance and that I don’t think you should sit out from the fun anymore.” Matt stood up and offered his hand.  “Shall we dance?”

  
Ducking her head, Marley tried to hide her smile.   Kitty and Artie continued to curl around each other while Tina and Ryder did what she assumed was their own version of the tango. Jake and Unique swayed together, whispering quietly.  Summer wasn’t going to last forever and she didn’t really want to miss out any fun with her friends.  Placing her hand in Matt’s, Marley smiled up at him.  “Let’s do it.”


	6. Chapter 5

“Ok so which movie is this again?” Kitty asked as she threw herself against the sofa in Artie’s living room without spilling a single kernel of popcorn from the bowl in her hands.  She shot him an unimpressed face as he looked at her in horror as she handed him the bowl. “What do I have something in my teeth?”

 

“Which movie is this? Which movie is this? Did you not listen when I gave you the disc? It’s one of the greatest films of all time!  How can you ask me that question?”

 

“Because you say that about most of the movies we watch?”

 

 _“It Happened One Night Kitty_!  Gable! Capra!  Colbert!  The movie that started the entire romantic comedy genre!”

 

“Ok what is with the romance streak lately?  This is the fourth one you’ve wanted to watch for movie night.   You do remember my favorite movie is _Transformers 2_?”

 

“I’m trying to expand your knowledge of actual cinema.” Artie pointed out before mumbling under his breath as he aimed the remote at DVD player. “And besides it’s movie afternoon.  Haven’t had a movie night in weeks.”  

 

“You really need to work on your mumbling.” Kitty pointed out, reaching over to grab the remote from his hand.  “What was _that_ about?”

 

“Nothing. Let’s just watch the movie.”

 

“It’s like you don’t even know me.  No we’re talking about this.” Kitty tossed the remote behind her, tucking her feet  under her as she turned to face Artie.  “You’ve been acting weirder than normal all week.”

 

“Do you want to break up with me?” Artie blurted out.

 

“Have you gone completely mental?”

 

“Do you?”

 

“Not until about two seconds ago.” Kitty crossed her arms and fixed him with her best stare.  

 

“Then why have you been avoiding spending time with me since your pool party?”  

 

“Did you fall asleep watching sci fi with Ryder again and think I’m a robot? I’m right here.  We’re spending time together.”

 

“In the middle of the afternoon with my mom and her book club in the back yard.” Artie pointed out. “We haven’t been on a date just the two of us in weeks.  We’re always with everyone else.  Don’t get me wrong I like spending time with everyone. I’m going to miss everyone in the fall but I want to spend time with just my girlfriend.”

 

“I’ve been busy with cheerleading practice and everything.”

 

“But you haven’t been too busy to spend the night at Marley’s. And Unique’s.  And when we all crashed here after the pool party you spent more time with Tina than me.” Artie sighed and pushed up his glasses with his finger. “Look if you want to break up, fine just tell me.  I’d rather not deal with you breaking my heart here instead of a few months with Santana as a witness.”  

 

“I don’t want to break up with you.  If I did I would tell you.  When have I ever not told you what I wanted?”

 

“I know I’m not the best boyfriend in the world…”

 

“I can honestly say you’re probably the best boyfriend in the world for me.” Kitty reached over and grabbed his hand tightly in her’s.  “I didn’t mean to not spend time with you.  I just didn’t want to keep you from everyone else.”

 

“I see everyone else plenty. Who I want to see is you.  And I did have this crazy idea that we would spend more time at your house than mine with your parents away for the week.”

 

“Artie….we talked about this.”

 

Artie held up his hands in protest.  “Hey no pressure.  I just thought it would be nice to make out during a movie without being interrupted by mom wondering if we need more popcorn.  Or one of our friends needing to get past to us to go pee.”

 

“Ryder does need training on how to walk.” Kitty nodded.  “Ok I’ll do better about spending more time with you if you stop being all passive aggressive.  You know I find it hot when you get all confident.”

 

“Oh really?” Artie wiggled his eyebrows and leaned forward, motioning for her to come closer.  “Well then come here woman.”

 

“There’s a fine line between confident and being an ass.” Kitty giggled as she moved closer, stopping only when their noses brushed against each other.  “Don’t cross it mister.”  Her voice dropped to a whisper as she nuzzled their noses together.

 

“Noted madam.” Artie whispered back before closing the slight gap between them with a kiss.  He had every intention of keeping it a short and sweet kiss, both an apology and a promise to do better.  But as happened frequently with the two of them, one kiss became kisses.  Short, sweet and light were quickly escalating to long, wet and slipping towards the dirty category.  Kitty moved closer, arranging herself across his lap when Artie faintly heard the sound of the back door being opened.

 

“Oops.  Sorry.  Sorry.” Nancy Abrams held up her hands over her eyes.  “Forgot girlfriend was in the house.”

 

“Hi Mrs. Abrams” Kitty blushed as she untangled herself out of Artie’s lap.  

 

“I think we’ll go around the front of the house.  That will give you enough time to finish up what you were doing but not enough time to create any grandchildren.”

 

“Mom”

 

“I will tip you out of that chair Arthur. Don’t tempt me.”  Nancy called over her shoulder with a laugh as she closed the door behind her.

 

“Ok you have a point about interruptions.” Kitty giggled.

 

“Finally I’m right!  Now hand over the remote so we can start this movie.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“So what do you want to do tonight?” Ryder asked as he flipped the chair backwards before sliding into it.  His shift was finally over, it was payday, his first night he didn’t have to close in four days and he was ready to have fun like a regular teenager for once.

 

Unique shrugged her shoulders,putting down the latest copy of _Glamour_ she had been reading.  “There is nothing worth seeing at the movies. And no we are not seeing _Iron Man 3_ for the fifth time.”

 

“But..”

 

“No. I can appreciate the appeal of Robert Downey Junior as much as any girl but no.  Enough is enough.”

 

“Fine. But we’re not seeing _The Great Gatsby_ either.  Too  much like homework.”

 

Unique waved her hand.  “Marley and I already saw it six times.  That crystal dress will be mine for prom.  I promise you that.”

 

“I look forward to it.” Ryder grinned at her.  It hadn’t been easy trying to regain the friendship they had before the entire Katie reveal but they were at least trying and Ryder was glad of that.  During the school year they hadn’t much of a chance to hang out just the two of them but that seemed to be all they were doing lately, with Kitty and Artie being together, Tina determined to catch up with Matt and Marley and Jake being determined to never be in the same room as each other. (Ryder did have to admit his friends were doing better with that but considering every time he got involved with their drama he just made it worse, he figured it was best to just let nature take it’s course there)  Unique  at least seemed to enjoy spending time with him, even if half the time he was convinced she was just humoring him.

 

“Artie was telling me about this open mic slam poetry thing in West Lima.  We should do that.”

 

“Why does Artie know about an open mic slam poetry thing? I don’t even know what that is.”

 

“Artie suffers from delusions he is the next Eminem.  And you will find out when we get there.” Unique announced as she stood up and waited for him to join her.

 

“Has anyone ever told you you’re bossy?” Ryder teased as he stood up and offered her his arm.  He always felt a little corny when he did it, but Unique seemed to like it.

 

Unique snapped her fingers and jabbed them into his chest.  “A diva knows what she wants at all times. She is never bossy.  Remember that Ryder Lynn.”

 

“I will m’lady.” Ryder smiled. “So should I practice my rap skills on the way to this thing?”

 

“What rap skills?  You have no rap skills. Artie has more rap skills than you.”

 

Ryder gave a loud gasp and feigned a hurt look. “I am crushed.  Next you are going to tell me I can’t break dance.”

 

“You can break things when you dance but break dance?  Honey no.”

 

“My entire life has been a lie. I don’t know if I can go on.  I am crushed.” He moved to wipe an imaginary tear off his cheek while Unique laughed at him.

 

“Come.  I will show what real rap skills look like and afterwards I may even buy you ice cream if you’re good.”

 

“You always say the sweetest things to me.”

 

“Oh doesn’t this just make you want to puke?” Bree smirked as she blocked their path to the door.  “The illiterate drummer boy and Big Momma.”

 

“If it isn’t the Penis Fly Trap.” Unique cocked her head to the side while Ryder tried to cover his laugh in his hand.  “Meeting someone else’s boyfriend in the bathroom for a quickie?”

“It’s so cute how the little mouse sends her big brother out to defend her.”  Bree settled back on her heels, flipping her ponytail behind her.

 

Over the school year, Unique had gotten very good at hiding when a particular barb rattled her.  It was only a quick intake of breath that Ryder doubted Bree even saw, but he did.  He stepped in between the two girls, blocking Bree’s eye contact with Unique.  “Always lovely to leave you Bree.  Unique I believe we have plans to keep?”  

 

He turned around to offer his hand, which Unique took gladly.  She didn’t mind having to fight her own battles but every now and again it was nice to not have to.  Plus the look of disappointment on Bree’s face at not getting the response she was hoping for was always a good thing.  “Yes we are on the cusp of fashionably late and just plain tacky.”

 

“And I know how you feel about tacky.” Ryder smiled as he led her to the door, his hand pushing against the small of her back as he held the door open for her.

 

Once the door was safely shut behind them, Unique walked a few steps into the parking lot to make sure Bree hadn’t decided to follow them.  A quick glance over her shoulder (under the pretense of looking at Ryder because there was no way that girl was going to know she had affected Unique in anyway) revealed Bree standing in line, her back to the door. No doubt a sneer on her lips.  “Thank you for that.”

 

“I take great pleasure in ruining Bree’s day.” Ryder shrugged his shoulders before running a hand through his hair.  “Don’t even worry about it.”

 

“Still I am grateful.”

 

“Grateful enough to let me do my _Ice Ice Bab_ y on stage tonight?”  Ryder asked hopefully, wiggling his eyebrows in a completely ridiculous manner. “Ohh...or maybe _Thrift Shop_?”

 

“I will never be grateful enough to you to allow your Mackelmore.  But perhaps we can discuss the Vanilla Ice.”

 

“Works for me” Ryder smiled as they came up to his car in the parking lot.  He led her over to the passenger side and opened the door for her.  “I hope you know where you’re going because I will get us completely lost.”

  
“Stick with me honey. I’ll show exactly where you need to go.”


	7. Chapter 6

There were a few things Blaine had come to a pretty firm conclusion on during his first month in New York City.  First - actually living with Kurt was a lot harder and a lot more wonderful than he had anticipated.  Second - living with Santana and Rachel wasn’t nearly as difficult as Kurt insisted it was.  Third - Five people were entirely too many to actually live in the loft.  Fourth - New York was apparently not only the center of all things art, music and fashion it was also located on  **_ the center of the sun _ . **

 

It was barely the end of June and he would swear on any stack of Bibles offered that it was hotter here than the summer he worked at Kings Island (outside, in the Smurfs costume, for 8 hours a day).  Sliding open the door to the loft, Blaine let out a cautious hello before peeling off the blue polo he had worn for his piano lesson today.  He made his way over to the fan they kept in the corner of the living room.  If everyone else was at work, then he was going to sit in front of the fan and do nothing until he absolutely had to.

 

Cranking up the ancient fan as high as it would go, Blaine collapsed back on the sofa letting the cool air wash over him.  He had to enjoy this while he could.  With all the various schedules he could never be sure when exactly someone was going to come home.  Not that he didn’t enjoy having his roommates around, but sometimes it was just nice to be alone.  

 

_ I wish those days could come back once more _

_ Why did those days ever have to go? _

_ I wish those days could come back once more _

 

Blaine had to laugh.  Of course Sam would leave his phone in the loft.  The day before he had left it at the diner and had to spend two hours reprogramming it since Santana was the one who found it.  (It’s hilarious that your best friend’s phone is now entirely in Turkish until you’re the one who has to Google Turkish translation sites to fix it)  At least Blaine recognized Jake’s ringtone.  He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if Bitchette had called with a job for Sam and Sam wasn’t there.

 

Following the echo of Stevie Wonder’s voice, Blaine found Sam’s phone sitting next to the sink.  “Hey Jake!” He answered cheerfully.  “How’s everything in Lima?”

 

“Blaine?  I thought I called Sam…”

 

“You did. He forgot his phone.  What’s going on? I don’t think we’ve talked in forever.”

 

“Fine. Fine. Everything’s fine. “ Blaine furrowed his brows at Jake’s hurried answer.  Jake sounded...nervous. Distracted.  Like he wanted to hurry up and get off the phone which made no sense. After all Jake had called Sam and the two of them didn’t have any issues.  At least Blaine didn’t think they had any issues.  In fact, it reminded him of how Jake sounded those first few weeks when everything with Marley blew up.

 

“Jake? Are you sure you’re ok?  You sound upset.”

 

“No. I’m fine.  Sam had called me to talk about the next game night but if he’s not there I’ll just call back.”

 

“Jake.  Look if you really need to be somewhere else fine, but you sound like you need someone to talk to. I’m willing to listen.  Or might I suggest talking with your puppet. I find that can be therapeutic.”

 

“The only way that sentence could have been weirder was if I didn’t know you were referring to an actual puppet.” Jake let out a short strangled laugh.  Blaine bit his lip.  Something was wrong.  He just knew it.  “Look dude. I appreciate the offer but I don’t want to put you in the middle of my mess.”

 

“Jake look at your friends.  We’re all in the middle of someone’s mess.” Blaine pointed out.  

 

“We’re finally on a good track here. I don’t want to be the one to bring it all up again.  I’m not going to be that jerk.”

 

“So this has to do with Marley.” Blaine nodded.  “I’m not pushing you to reveal your core wounds or anything but I am the last person to judge you on anything.”

 

“I don’t even know what a core wound is dude.” Jake chuckled.  “But no you’re busy and stuff.  It’s nothing.  Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Hey.  First off I’m not busy. And second of all even if I was, you’re my friend Jake.  If you need help or you want to talk I will find the time.”

 

Jake didn’t respond so Blaine kept quiet.  If there was one thing he had figured out about Jake was that sometimes it was best to lay the offer out there and give Jake some time to think it over.  And such offers were often met by silence. He pulled the phone back just to make sure the connection hadn’t dropped and then moved to the couch to wait for Jake’s response.

 

It came quicker than he had anticipated.  “Blaine?  You sure you have the time?”

 

“All the time in the world.” Blaine promised.  

 

Jake let out a sigh. “Ok so I’m throwing this party for the Fourth and I was out shopping for supplies you know?”

 

_ He paused in the middle of the soda aisle, trying to remember all the different favorites of his friends.  Obviously there was going to be some regular plain soda for mixers.  His mom would make good on her promise to stick around the entire party but Jake also knew Artie and Ryder were surprisingly stealth at getting alcohol past unsuspecting parents.  (A fact Artie chalked up to his superior talents and Ryder’s complete lack of stealth regarding anything else in his life) But Unique didn’t drink much and if Unique didn’t drink then Marley wouldn’t drink.  And he still wasn’t sure about Matt.  Plus no matter what they snuck in, he still had to have enough to last the night but without going over the budget his mom had set for him. _

 

_ “You look lost.  Can’t remember which poor cashier you promised to meet in the restroom?”  Jake looked over his shoulder to see Bree standing behind him, an unimpressed look on her face. “I’ll give you a hint. It’s dumbest one.” _

 

_ “Bree.”  He started to push his cart past her but she put her hand on top of it to stop him. “I thought we were done.” _

 

_ “No what I am done with is little boys like you acting like you can use women for your sexual gratification and get no consequences for that behavior.” _

 

_ “What are you even talking about?” _

 

_ “Your little friends think it’s ok to bad mouth me and let you off scott free? I don’t think so. There was two of us doing that tango.” _

 

_ “My friends hate you for a lot of reasons, including what you did to Tina at prom.” Jake pointed out, his eyes narrowing.  “And why do you care what my friends think anyway? They are my friends. Not yours.” _

 

_ “Oh.”   _

 

_ Jake and Bree turned around at the sound of Marley’s very starteld voice.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the sneer Bree had directed at him turn into a smirk.   _

 

_ “Marley…” He took a step to her.  “Nothing’s…” _

 

_ “I thought my mom told me to meet her in this aisle but I must have heard her wrong.” Marley waved her hands around the way she did when she was nervous.  “I’m just going to go find her.” _

 

_ Marley turned on the heel of her sandals and practically ran out of the aisle.  Jake turned back to find Bree smiling at him.  “You knew she was here.  That’s why you stopped me.” _

 

_ Bree shrugged, pushing her hair off her shoulders.  “It’s not my fault she doesn’t go anywhere without her two ton momma.” _

 

_ “Lay off of Mrs. Rose. And lay off Marley.  She has nothing to do with you and me.” _

 

_ Bree shook her head and moved closer to him. “You don’t get it do you?” She purred as she put her hand on his chest before he was able to pushed her hand away.  “She is everything to do with you and me.  And the last time I did what you wanted me to was under the bleachers.”  She stood up on her toes to whisper in his ear.  “I’ll do what I’ll like.” _

  
  


“And then she left.” Jake finished.

 

“Wow.” Blaine let out a low whistle.  “I didn’t know the Krogers in Lima was such a magnet for drama.”

 

“I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.” Jake groaned.

 

“No. No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Blaine apologized quickly.  “I’m sorry. That must have been very awkward for you.”

 

“Just a bit. And now Marley probably hates me again.”

 

“Have you talked with her?  Did she say that?”

 

“No.  But if Kurt had seen you with that Eli dude you think he’d be happy about it?”

 

“Ok. You have a point.  But you still haven’t talked to Marley so you don’t know what she’s thinking.”

 

“We weren’t exactly talking all that often to begin with.”

 

“She was going to your party right?”

 

“Yeah with Unique and TIna.”

 

“And has she cancelled?”

 

Jake sighed.  “No.”

 

“That’s a good thing. Look Marley’s a smart girl.  And she knows how Bree operates.  So does everyone else.  Just give her some time and talk to her at the party.  And if I can make a suggestion?”

 

“Could I stop you?”

 

“Don’t do an explanation about how Bree just ran into you. She’s not going to want to hear that.  Just apologize for Bree dragging her into her issues with you.   Trust me. Trying to explain things is more for our benefit than theirs.”

 

“Yeah. That makes sense.” Jake said quietly.  “Does this ever just go away?”

 

“Not all the way. No. But it gets easier? Or least it did for me once I stopped seeing myself as the biggest villian in the world.”

 

“Yeah but you are a good guy Blaine. You just made a mistake.”

 

“So did you. You’re still a good guy Jake.”  Blaine heard the scoff of protest Jake let out. “You are.  If you weren’t a good guy you wouldn’t be so worried about what Marley was thinking. You wouldn’t be worried about making everyone else’s summers awkward. You’re a good guy Jake.”

 

“Is this the sort of thing your puppet would tell you?”

 

“Not so much my puppet but Sam’s did a lot. Sometimes Tina’s.”

 

“That answer did not make you any less weird dude.”

 

“Yeah but you asked me so how weird does that make you?” Blaine laughed.  “Don’t go there with me Mighty Man”

 

“Whatever Nightbird.” Jake laughed, an honest to goodness laugh that Blaine realized he hadn’t heard of Jake in months.  “I’m sure your plans for the Fourth will be weak in comparison to my party…”

 

“Oh I’m sure.  Fireworks over the Hudson River is nothing compared to your backyard.”

 

“Right. Like I was saying.  It will be weak but we’re going to miss you.”

 

“Take lots of pictures. I want to see the inevitable sparkler war between Ryder and Kitty.”

 

“Of course. How else are you going to understand how one of them ends up in the hospital?” Jake pointed out. 

 

“Exactly.”

 

“I’ll make sure Tina is all over that.” Jake paused briefly.  “And Blaine?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Thanks.”

  
“Anytime Jake.”


	8. Chapter 7

Whistling, Matt cut through Phyllis Diller Memorial Park on his way home from the studio.  A lot had changed in Lima since he moved away but the park had remained completely the same.  Ildly Matt wondered if the entire troop of GI Joes he and Mike had buried under one of the trees when they were 7 were still resting in eternal peace or if someone had found them years ago.  

 

He had only been away a few years but some days Matt wondered if he hadn’t been away for a few decades.  Houses he remembered being there forever apparently had been torn down.  The ever present graffiti at McKinley seemed to have vanished.  (A fact Tina had told him the glee club was responsible for.)  Even the pathetic state of McKinley athletics had changed. No longer were the Cheerios the only ones winning.  A far cry from his frustrating days on the football field.

 

Thinking of the football field, he slowed his pace.  His first day in town he had stopped by to see Finn’s tree.  He had seen pictures of it from Mike but seeing it (and the plaque) really made it real.  Finn was gone.  They had never been close but they had been friends.  He didn’t know how long he just sat there, remembering and rubbing his fingers over the carved “quarterback” in the trunk.  (He didn’t need Tina and Artie to know Puck had done that bit of memorializing)  All he did know was that when he was finally ready to go he had felt at peace and desire to get coffee.  Which led him  back to Tina.  Matt like to think it was Finn who led to that reunion.  And to the newest members of New Directions.

 

Tina and Artie had invited him along to just about everything the group did. It was a little awkward at first but it was getting better. It hadn’t seemed like a pity invitation when Jake had invited him to his Fourth of July party for example.  Although to be fair he probably did know Jake the best out of all the new kids.  He was insanely talented as a dancer.  A little on the quiet side but Matt knew he of all people couldn’t judge on that.  Matt was starting to realize that quiet facade hid a wicked sense of humor and a loyalty that reminded Matt a lot of Puck.  

 

Kitty was hilarious and it took him about three seconds to see how crazy she and Artie were about each other.  Ryder never seemed to run out of energy. Unique was pretty much her own force of nature.   And then there was Marley.

 

Every time the entire group got together to either hang out or even work on songs, Marley either was the last one to arrive, didn’t leave Unique or Kitty’s side or she left in a hurry to go help her mom.  The longest time he probably spent with her was the night of Kitty’s pool party when he had finally convinced her to dance with him.  

 

She had been full of giggles every time they took a wrong step.  He learned she worked with her mom.  She considered Unique and Kitty her best friends. And then she found out that he had three cats at his parent’s house and they had spent the rest of the night looking at pictures of his cats on his phone.

 

Turning around the corner he spotted Marley sitting underneath a tree, a notebook in her lap as she moved a pencil across the page.  As he came closer, he could see the tell tale wires of earbuds dangling from her ears as she distractedly pulled her long hair into a ponytail. With a grin he sat right down next to her and tapped her shoulder.

 

Marley let out a shriek as she jumped at his touch.  Looking over and seeing him she let out a shaky sigh, clenching and unclenching her fist.  Pulling her earbuds out of her ear, Matt caught the faint sound of a piano.   “You scared me you jerk.” she protested as she slapped him in the shoulder.  

 

“You were concentrating so hard you probably wouldn’t have heard me in the first place.” Matt pointed out before looking down at the notebook. “Homework?  You didn’t tell me you were taking summer classes.”

 

Marley grabbed the notebook and held it close to her chest. “I’m not.  It’s not homework.  It’s nothing really.  What are you doing here?”

 

“Heading home from the studio. And the way you were concentrating didn’t look like nothing.”  Matt looked over his shoulder before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Is it plans for your cat smuggling cartel?  I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

 

“If I told you I would have to kill you. The cat smuggling business is very dangerous you know.” she whispered back, a smile on her lips.

 

“And you are one dangerous girl.” Matt smiled back before tapping her nose with his finger.  “And no one concentrates that hard on  _ nothing _ .”

 

Marley squished her face together before biting her thumb.  “Ok it’s really nothing and it’s not that good.  At least not yet.  But I want to be a songwriter and lately all my songs have been in this  _ I’m alone and sad  _ place so Blaine’s been sending me stuff so I can try to write something else. So that was me, writing something else.”

 

It was all said in one huge rush of breath and when she was done, Marley started to chew her bottom lip.  Matt nodded slowly.  Damn she was adorable when she did that.  “Songwriter?  When do I get to hear your work?”

 

“I only play for a select group. The closest of friends.”

 

“Oh the closest of friends I see.” Matt shrugged his shoulders as he leaned closer to her. “I guess we’ll just have to become better friends then.”

 

Marley smiled and shoved her own shoulder into his. “We’ll see about that.”

 

“I guess we will.” Matt looked at his watch before standing up, brushing the grass off his khaki cargo shorts. “I promised my aunt I’d watch my cousins tonight.  I need to go.  I’ll see you at the party if not before right?”

 

“Right. I’ll see you then.” Marley smiled and held up her hand as Matt ran off down the lane. He resumed whistling.  He’d need to hurry if he wanted to get back home before his cousins decided to raid his room and break into his not-so-secret candy stash.

 

Marley  watched him retreat, shaking her head.  He was a really nice guy and easy to talk to. She’d have to tell Tina thanks for introducing them soon. Not that she didn’t like Ryder and she probably was getting closer to being able to hang out with Jake without all the Bree stuff still hurting , but it was nice to talk to a guy and not worry past feelings. 

 

“Child tell me you are going to hit that and soon.” Unique’s voice sounded behind her.  “Because if you don’t I will.”

 

Marley turned to find Unique and Kitty standing there with similar looks of amusement on their faces.  “Oh you will not.” Kitty rolled her eyes as she sat down in the spot Matt just vacated.  “If for no other reason you don’t want to cheat on Ryder.”

 

“Ryder and I are not dating.” Unique protested as she sat down across from Marley.

 

“Whatever.  We’re not dealing with your denial issues right now.  Although if I was dating Ryder I’d deny it too.  No we’re talking about Marley showing some interest in the newest member of our group. That was some grade A flirting going on”

 

“I wasn’t flirting.” Marley protested. Kitty and Unique tilted their heads and fixed their best not impressed stares at her. “Guys I _ wasn’t _ flirting!  We were just talking.”

 

“From where I was standing that was flirting.” Unique nodded.  “And even if it wasn’t, I think you should consider it.”

 

“I barely know Matt. He’s just being friendly.”

 

“Just being friendly like when he slow danced with you at my pool party?” Kitty wondered.  “I’m not judging you. I think it would be great if you flirted a little with him. It’d be good for you.”

 

“Good for me?”

 

“Yes.” Unique chimed in. “You keep saying you are over Jake and we believe you.”

 

“Maybe we believe you.” Kitty amended.

 

“But it’s been months and it’s time you look beyond Jake Puckerman for your romantic horizons.”

 

“I’m not ready.” Marley offered up a sad smile. “I’m just not.”

 

“I think you’re more ready than you realize.” Unique said softly.

 

“Ready or not you are still coming to the mall with us.” Kitty announced.  “We all need cute outfits for this party thing and we’re going to get them now.”

 

“Oh we are?” Marley laughed as Unique pulled her to her feet.

 

“Yes and on the way we’ll see if we can get Unique to admit she’s actually dating Ryder.” Kitty flipped her ponytail off her shoulder and adjusted the straps of her pink tank top.  

  
“In that case count me in.”


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey remember when Blaine said he LOVED bumper bowling? Yeah like the show was going to give me that image and not expect me to run with it.

Sam didn’t even wait for Artie to say hello. “Bro are you  _ sure _ you don’t want to rethink this whole staying in Lima for the summer thing?”  

 

“Hey Sam. What’s up?” Artie said calmly as he waved in greeting to Ryder from across the Lima Bean. Everyone was meeting here at the end of Ryder’s shift before their practice for league bumper bowling.  Their team was currently on top of the league standings and as team captain Artie was determined to make sure it stayed that way.  He had come early to work on some strategy and tinkering with the lineup.  

 

“I’m serious. Come out now. You can totally crash here till we find a place.”

 

“The building doesn’t have a ramp.  I’d be sleeping outside. We’ve been over this.”  Artie wondered if it would be a good idea to have Jake lead off and Ryder complete the lineup.  Both could rack up the style points like crazy (although Ryder’s were more for the enthusiasm than the actual move but still points were points).

 

“I’ll carry you up and down the stairs. Any time you want.  Just come out  now .”  Sam pleaded.

 

“Rachel giving you the full Rachel Berry Sophomore Year Experience?” Artie asked as he put down his pencil.  Talking through the finer points of having to deal with Rachel when she fully committed to being  _ Rachel _ took awhile.  It would go faster if Kurt was there too but Artie was assuming Kurt was either at work or doing something with Blaine.  

 

“No. Rachel’s fine. I mean she’s  _ Rachel _ but not  _ Rachel Rache _ _l_. She’s barely here between the diner and rehearsals.” Sam dismissed the notion out of hand  and Artie would bet even money Sam was running his hand through his hair.   

 

“Then it’s Santana.” Artie nodded, stroking his chin with his free hand. “I told you. You can’t let her smell your fear.”

 

“I can handle Santana.”  Sam protested. The weird thing was Artie believed him.  

 

“So if it’s not Rachel and it’s not Santana, then what has you so freaked out you are basically offering to be my own personal valet.  Not that I don’t deserve such treatment.”

 

Sam fell silent. Artie could hear the sound of things being moved around through the phone so he picked his pencil up to work on his lineup again. Maybe he should switch Kitty and Marley’s spots.  They were pretty even in terms of skill level but if Kitty went later than meant more time to make out with his girl.  Always a plus.

 

Finally Sam let out a sigh  “It’s Blaine. And Kurt too but I don’t see him that much. So mainly Blaine.”

 

“Blaine?” Artie looked up, dropping his pencil again.  “The Blaine I know? The one who won _M_ ost Likely to Apologize to a Spider for Ruining It’s Web ?”

 

“I still don’t know why the yearbook committee let you make up that category.”

 

“Am I wrong?” Artie questioned, taking Sam’s silence as agreement. “What happened to come between the great Blam bromance?”

 

“The wedding. The wedding happened.  They are going to have to elope because I can’t take this anymore and they _ just started _ .”

 

“Look Kurt got a little crazy planning his parents’ wedding too.  But he calmed down.  You remember that.”

 

“It’s not just Kurt though. Blaine is equally insane and this time there is no Mrs. Hummel telling them to calm down.  They’ve fought every night this week about wedding plans.  And like not even the big stuff like where to have it.  Last night it was over napkin rings.  _ Napkin rings _ .”  

 

“Why are they debating napkin rings if they don’t even know where…”

 

“I stopped questioning things after the fight over font on the seating cards.  You think I’m going to point them towards a bigger fight?”

 

“I’m sure it’s just because they are actually starting to plan the wedding.  I’m sure they’ll calm down once they get used to living together and everything.”

 

“Dude you aren’t getting this. They make powerpoints to prove their point. They both have scrapbooks of ideas from when they were like 5 or something.  And they are both control freaks.” Sam dropped his voice to a whisper.  “You haven’t seen the laundry system.  It’s terrifying.  There are charts involved.”

 

“I still don’t see how me coming out early when I don’t even have a place I can stay is going to solve this admittedly  unique situation.  As much as I would like to I can’t actually direct people to do what I want in real life.”

 

“No but if you were here then someone else would be with me on this. Santana and Rachel are barely here.  They don’t see it or think I’m just exaggerating.  If you were here, you could back me up.”

 

“But we’re still at the whole I wouldn’t have anywhere to stay thing. Which you know.  And if you found a place for the both of us then you could escape.”

 

“I know.” Sam sighed “And I’m still looking. And when he’s not being crazy with the wedding stuff Kurt even got people to look around. Dani, Elliott, his old boss at Vogue.   I just need to get away from all this.”

 

“Now that I can’t help you with.”

 

“Wait. Yes you can.” Artie felt a shiver of alarm run up his spine.  When Sam’s voice got that excited there was generally a plan involving livestock coming.  “Fourth of July is next week right?  I’ve had a couple of shoots.  I can catch the bus back to Columbus and then get the one to Lima.  I can crash with you and not go back for a couple of days.”

 

“Why not just stay with your folks?”

 

“They’re back in Tennessee doing something when my dad’s high school friends.”

 

“Well you are always welcome to crash with me.  Jake’s having a party on the Fourth so you can come to that too.”

 

“Awesome.  Is your mom still hot?”

 

“Gross. That’s my mom.”

 

“Dude your mom’s a cougar.  You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”

 

“Keep this up and I’ll invite Kurt and Blaine to come too.”

 

“You wouldn’t.”

 

“Try me.”

 

“Kurt warned me you played dirty.”

 

“That’s why Kurt and I get along.”  Artie turned his head as he caught site of Matt and Tina entering The Lima Bean.  “Text me when you know your plans and I’ll convince my mom she needs to leave for the entire length of your visit.”

 

“Don’t hate on me and your mom’s mad chemistry bro.”  Sam laughed as Artie hung up the phone.  He was about ninety five percent sure Sam was only joking about the whole crush on his mom thing.  If he wasn’t then Artie was going to have to rethink this whole getting his mom to help him move plan.  “Matt. Just the man I wanted to see.”

 

“I know that look.” Matt declared as he sat down across the table while Tina sat down next to Artie.  “That look scares me. That look led to doing a Kiss song in full make up.”

 

“That was a brilliant performance.  People will make movies about that performance.” Artie said defensively crossing his arms.

 

“And by people he means himself.” Tina teased, nudging Artie with her elbow.

 

“Why did you want me to meet you and what am I going to regret?”

 

“Matt.” Artie leaned forward on to the table, resting his arms on the table.  “I have a proposition that will change your life for the better.”

 

Matt shifted his eyes towards a grinning Tina.  “Is he asking me to join the mob?  Cause I kinda thought joining New Directions was the same thing.”

 

“No. But it’s close.” Tina offered helpfully.

 

“Balls to the Wall is needing a new member to complete this season.  And we’d like you to be that member.”

 

“Balls to the Wall?” Matt repeated slowly.

 

“Our bumper bowling team.” Tina explained. “We’ve been down a member since Blaine moved to New York.  Dottie’s been able to fill in until now but she’s going to Asian Camp and we need another replacement.”

 

“We are this close to the league trophy and it will be mine.” Artie promised.  “Your capacity for flare is exactly what we need.”

 

“Flare? Tina make him speak English.”

 

“You earn extra points for being able to do stuff with the ball. Like dance moves.” Tina explained. “It’s called flare.  We usually clean up in flare because of Jake and Ryder.  Artie wants you to be a ringer.”

 

“A valued team member.” Artie corrected.

 

“Ringer.” Tina shot back.

 

“Why are we even friends?”  Artie threw up his hands in frustration.

 

“Look I know it sounds weird but it’s really a lot of fun.  The University of Lima started this whole league thing and it’s just caught on.  It’s Lima and it’s something new to do.  Come to practice with us tonight and if you hate it, we’ll convince Artie to find another ringer. Maybe he’ll con Mike into coming down for it.”

 

“You just want me to call Mike so you can flirt with frat guys in front of him.” Artie muttered. Tina elbowed him sharply in the side causing him to wince in pain.  “Woman we’ve talked about your aggression issues.”  

 

“If it will stop Tina from beating you up Artie, I’ll come to practice tonight and see what it’s all about.” Matt offered.  “Then we’ll talk about me being your ringer.”

 

“I knew I could depend on you to be reasonable.” Artie nodded as he picked up his pencil.  “Now I think you should probably go between Marley and Kitty in the roster.  You’re our surprise element.”

 

“And he gets to make out with girlfriend longer.” Tina mocked whispered to Matt.

 

“Don’t be hating because that frat guy last week never called you.  Everyone told you that wasn’t happening.”

 

“It could have happened.” Tina protested folding her arms across her middle.

 

“The red headed in the tube top shooting you dirty looks the entire time said otherwise.” Artie pointed out.  

 

“Tina I promise I’ll pretend to flirt with you in front of the frat guys if it makes you feel better?” Matt smiled.

 

“Thank you Matt. You are now my favorite person.” 

 

“Hey!” Artie gave his best offended look.  “I dedicated an entire week of songs to you.”

 

“That was  high school. We’ve  moved on.”

 

“I see how it is.  I’m telling Sam we need a two bedroom.  You’ve lost your room.”

 

“Oh you know you love me.” Tina leaned over to hug Artie.  He pretended to squirm away but he knew he wasn’t fooling her for one second. Or Matt judging by the laughing that was going on.  “Help me figure out this roster and we’ll talk.”

 

Tina mock saluted him. “Aye aye captain.”

 

“I like that salute thing.  I think I’m going to  make that a condition of every movie I direct. Everyone has to salute me.”

 

“Tina I think you may have created a monster.” Matt pointed out.

  
“The cast of his first student film is going to include Santana, Rachel and Kurt.  I’m going to tape their reactions to that request.” 


	10. Chapter 9

** July **

 

Jake paused and knocked on the doorframe of the office. “You wanted to see me?”

 

“Yes. Come on in baby. I’ll be with you in just a second.”  From behind her cluttered desk, Diana Harris waved her hand.  “I just need to find these annoying bills for my accountant.”

 

Smiling, Jake lowered himself into the leather chair that had been in the office as long as he had been attending classes at the Lima Dance Academy.  He could remember being in kindergarten sitting in this chair, swinging his legs back and forth while his mom and Dianna worked out payment information.  He was pretty sure that pile of folders that were in danger of falling off the corner of her desk right now was the exact same pile of folders in the exact same danger all those years ago.  

 

“I fucking hate the bills.” Diana sighed as she pulled a folder from the middle of the stack. “Take my advice baby.  Become fabulously wealthy and hire people to worry about things for you.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jake chuckled.  

 

“I know you have figured out by  now that I am never wrong.” Diana tapped a cigarette on a legal pad before lighting it.  “Filthy habit.” she muttered around the cigarette.  “Never start.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

“Always with the manners.” She nodded approvingly.  “I always did like that about you Jacob.”   With a wink she took another puff on the cigarette before leaning back in her chair.  “You’re going to be what? A junior this year?”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

“Have you thought about colleges yet?”

 

Jake tried to cover his surprise with a cough.  It wasn’t even the middle of summer yet. Weren’t adults supposed to wait till at least school before having that conversation?  Except possibly for parents but then again his mom had been talking about him going to college for as long as he could remember.  He didn’t have any idea where but he knew his mother was going to make sure he was going to go to college.  “Umm, not really?”

 

“Let me rephrase that. Have you thought about it other than when your mom discusses it with you?”

 

He ducked his head and laughed.  “No.”

 

“I thought as much.  Which is why I wanted to talk to you.”   Diana pulled a glossy brochure from another pile on her desk and pushed it towards him.  “I think you should consider this.”

 

Jake looked at the name of the school and blinked before looking back up at his dance teacher.  He then looked at it again. “Juilliard?  You think I should look at Juilliard?”

 

“No I thought you would like some paper for your trash can.  Yes.  I think you can do it.”

 

“Look I appreciate the confidence but people train years for this. You have to do at least ten hours of training a week to be considered. They only take like 18 people for the entire year.”

 

“You didn’t learn that by looking at the cover.” Diana pointed out, raising her eyebrow.  “Someone’s done research.”

 

Jake sighed and looked out the large window that looked over the hallway to the various studios.  He had probably spent more time here than he had in his own home over the years.  “I’ve looked at it.” He admitted softly still looking out the window.  “But it’s like a million to one shot I would get it. No way they are going to pick some kid from Lima, Ohio.”

 

“Bullshit.” Jake turned around to look at her.  “I’ll have you know Lima is the home of a show choir that made it to Nationals three years in a row. A choir  _ you  _ helped choreograph.  And it’s the home of three NYADA students in the past two years, including the next Fanny Brice on Broadway.  And it is the home of the best damn student I’ve ever taught and that includes my wonderful darling nephew so that’s saying something.”

 

Diana stood up and moved around her desk to sit in the chair next to him.  “Look we’ve know each other a long time and we both know you’ve got a gift.  And your mom hasn’t been busting her ass waiting tables because you’re just ok.  I’m not telling you that you have to choose Juilliard.  Or even that you have to follow dance.  If you think you can find happiness being the person who cleans up after the elephants in the zoo then go for it with my blessing.  But I want you to know I think this is an option.  And if you want it, then I will do everything in my power to help you get it.”

 

Jake nodded, taking a deep breath. He wasn’t convinced he could get into Juilliard but if Diana believed in him, well it was at least something to think about.  “So I’m your favorite then?  Do I get to tell Matt?” he smiled trying to lighten the mood.

 

“It will probably inspire him to work for free more so go ahead.” Diana shrugged as she smacked him on his arm.  “Now go. Get out of here.  Find your friend Tina. She was here during your last  class.”

 

“Tina? Did she say what she wanted?”

 

“Sweetheart I love you but I decided a long time ago not to get involved in your love life.  I told you she was here. That’s all I got. Now go.  Get.”

 

“Fine. I’m going.” Jake stood up, holding the Juilliard brochure in his hands.  He paused when he got to the door.  “Hey. Thanks.”

 

“Anytime. Now seriously get out of my face before I change my mind and make Matt my favorite.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Kitty wasn’t entirely sure what time it was when she opened her eyes.  She remembered starting  _ Shane _ on her laptop while Artie continued to talk about how working their way through the top 100 films of all time was totally going to help him destroy everyone when he started film school.  Now her laptop was streaming some other Western she didn’t recognize and Artie snoring above her head.

 

“Artie.”  She pushed at his shoulder gently.  “Artie wake up. We fell asleep.”  Rubbing her eyes she looked down at the time in the corner of the laptop.  “It’s 2 in the morning.”

 

“Then why are you waking me up?  Close the laptop and go back to sleep.” Artie mumbled, refusing to open his eyes.  

 

“Because my parents are going to kill me. Your parents are going to kill me.”  

 

“Your parents are out of town and my parents like you better than me.” Artie put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her back close to his chest.  “Go back to sleep.”

 

“Curfew.”

 

“My parents gave up curfew since I’m moving soon.” Artie pointed out.  “And if you’re going to keep talking then maybe you can consider pulling out the sleeper part of this sleeper sofa. Then we can get a better cuddle on”

 

“And why would I want to stay down here with you? I have a perfectly comfortable bed upstairs.”

 

“Because sleeping is better with cuddles.  Let me get in my chair and we’ll get more comfortable.”

 

As Artie sleepily transferred himself to his chair, Kitty slowly started to move the cushions to the floor.  It was far from the first time they had fallen asleep while watching a movie (She didn’t really care if Artie considered them classics. Most of the movies he insisted they watched for that reason were really boring.)  It was the first time that Artie would be  _ staying the night . _  With her.  In bed. Deliberately and without the rest of their friends staying too and throwing pillows at them all night.  It wasn’t all that much different but it felt so very different.  

 

It felt very adult. And for the first time she realized that if they did do the whole long distance thing, then this would be what would happen when she came to visit.  Sure Sam and Tina would be there but she wouldn’t be expected to share with Tina.  She would be sharing with Artie and no one would think it out of the ordinary.  

 

_ Katherine Ruth Wilde _ , she lectured herself sternly.  _ Don’t get ahead of yourself. You don’t even know if you want to do this long distance relationship stuff.  One day at a time remember? _ Shaking her head slightly finished pulling out the bed with Artie’s help.  “You want help?” she offered motioning towards the chair.

 

“I got this.  You get a blanket and lets get back to sleep.”

 

As she walked towards the basket where her mom kept all the throw blankets, her mind wandered to a fantasy of her and Artie, a few years down the road living together and doing this every night.  Tonight they were just far too tired to actually make it to the bedroom and were just going to sleep on the couch all tonight.  Pulling the blanket towards her, she shook her head.   _ You’ve been spending far too much time with Blaine.  That sounds like some pre teen girl fantasy he’d dream up .   _

 

Of course there was the small fact that Blaine actually managed to make that dream happen but she wasn’t going to think of that. After all, he and Kurt were so nauseatingly cute it was more a matter of preservation that they got together sooner rather than later.  Someone was bound to kill them if them if the mooney eyes had continued.  And by someone she meant herself.

 

Turning back, she paused at the end of the bed. Artie was already almost asleep again, his arm outstretched on the bed for her to join him.  Unfolding the blanket, she lowered herself to the bed and covered the two of them.  Artie put his arms around her and she smiled.  “No more snoring tonight.”

 

“You crazy. I don’t snore.”

 

Kitty pulled one of his hands up to her lips and kissed it lightly.  “Of course you don’t. That was just a random person mowing their lawn at 2 in the morning.”

 

“I don’t snore.”

 

“We’ll talk about your denial issues in the morning. After you make me breakfast.”

 

“You sure are bossy.”

 

“It’s why you love me.”

  
“That’s true.”


	11. Chapter 10

“Not that I’m one to talk but I’m pretty sure it’s bad form for the host to be hiding from his guests.” Matt pointed out dryly as he leaned against the doorway of the kitchen.  Neither he nor anyone else had seen Jake since they had arrived at his house.  “I think your mom is enjoying this party more than you are.”

Jake hurriedly shoved the brochure Diana had given him into the kitchen drawer.  He had just come in the grab some more chips but had gotten distracted at looking at the information one more time.  He hadn’t managed to bring it up to his mom yet and if she wasn’t currently so busy with work she probably would have found the brochure by now.  But still he had to admit, the idea wouldn’t leave his head.  He turned and held up a bag of chips with what he was sure was a guilty smile on his face. “Needed more chips.  Ryder is a bottomless pit.”

“And you keep your chips in the same drawer I saw your mom grab a pen out of earlier?” Matt asked skeptically.  

“Shit. I have to move that.” His mom might be distracted most nights, but Jake was pretty sure she’d notice a Juilliard brochure in the drawer she kept her pens.  He quickly grabbed it out of the drawer and moved it to the one she kept her ancient address book in.  His mom only tended to grab that when one of his cousins was having a birthday and he was pretty sure there weren’t any of those any time soon.

“Juilliard?” Matt whistled softly.  “That’s pretty impressive.  You’re aiming for Juilliard?”

“No.” Jake protested.  “Maybe?  I don’t know. Your aunt gave me this…”

“Aunt Di thinks you should go for Juilliard? I knew you were good but damn.  I’m her favorite nephew and she never suggested that to me.  Hell I’m pretty sure she never suggested it to Mike the few times she saw him dance.  And Mike’s _Mike_.”

“She gave me this the other day and I don’t know.  I told her I’d think about it.”

“You should.  Aunt Dee's pretty tough. She’d never suggest it if she didn’t think you could do it.  I mean I don’t know you that well but I do know her.”

“It’s stupid.  I probably wouldn’t get in anyways.”

“But you could.” Matt pointed out, resting his elbows against the small portable island.  “I mean unless you’re being a punk because you’re scared”

“I’m not a punk.”

“If you aren’t considering it because you’re scared? You kinda are.” Matt shrugged his shoulders.  

“What are you two doing?” Tina asked from the doorway, her hands on her hips.

“Getting chips.”  Matt and Jake said in unison with Jake holding up the bag as proof.  

“Well Matt can take those out. I need to talk to you Puckerman.” Tina said quickly, shooting Matt a smile.

“Yes ma’am.” Matt mocked saluted as he grabbed the bag from Jake.  “Don’t be a punk.”  he called out pointing at Jake as he returned to the backyard.

“I’m not a punk.” Jake yelled back.  

“Do I want to know what that’s about?”  Tina wondered.

“It’s nothing. So Miss Cohen-Chang. How can I help you?”

Tina took a deep breath. “I have a massive favor to ask and you can’t laugh.”

“Why would I laugh?” Jake wondered.  

“Just...you just can’t.”  Tina took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  “I signed up to compete for the Miss Allen County Beauty Pageant at the end of the month and I want your help working on my talent routine.”

“I’m sorry who are you and what have you done with Tina?”  Jake asked incredulously.  

“I told you not to laugh.” Tina punched Jake’s arm for good measure.  

“I’m not laughing this...this just doesn’t seem like you.”

“Scholarship money is very me.  Columbia is expensive and financial aid only goes so far.  But if I win? I get $5000 for school.”

“I just didn’t realize you wanted to be the next Miss America is all.” Jake held up his hands in protest.

“If all you’re going to do is make fun I’ll just ask Matt for help.” Tina pouted, turning on her heel to go back outside.

“Wait. Wait.” Jake reached out and spun her by her shoulder blades.  “What do you need help with?”

“Probably 50% of the girls competing are going to sing.  The rest will be dancing or playing a musical instrument.  I was thinking if I could come up with a routine where I could sing and dance…”

“You think you could win and you want me to help come up with the routine.” Jake finished for her with a smile.

“Kinda?  Would you do it?”  Tina smiled up at him, hope written all over her face.  She started batting her eyelashes in what Jake assumed was her attempt to entice him into doing what she wanted.

“Fine.” He sighed.  “We’ll look at my schedule and figure out a time for you to come to the studio. But you will owe me.”

Tina squealed and launched herself onto Jake, forcing him to take a step back and wrap his arms around her to keep his balance.  “I promise I will totally pay up.”

“Man you leave Lima for a month and everything changes.” Sam laughed from his spot near the front door where he and Artie just came in.  

“Sam! What are you doing here?” Tina ran out of Jake’s arms and jumped onto Sam.  Artie maneuvered himself over to Jake and offered up a fist to bump.  

“Groomzillas season has opened. Artie offered his place for me to escape.”  

Tina turned around and glared at Artie. “You didn’t tell me Sam was coming.”

Artie shrugged.  “It’s more fun this way.”

“Good to see you man.” Jake smiled slapping Sam’s hand in greeting.  

“You too.  Is everyone else here?”

“Out back.” Jake gestured over his shoulder.

“Good. That is perfect to show everyone my new and improved Matthew McConaughey impression.”

~*~*~*~*

“Ow!” Ryder hissed and pulled his hand out from Unique’s.  “That hurt.”

“I told you it would sting.” Unique pointed out, gesturing with the gauze pad in her other hand.  “And I also told you playing _Star Wars_ with Sam was a bad idea.”

 

“We were recreating the epic battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker….”

“You were playing with sparklers and you got burned. Just like I said you would.” Unique corrected him, grabbing his hand again.  Ignoring his hiss of protested, she continued to apply the burn cream to his hand.  “If we’re going to continue this friendship you are going to have to learn to listen to me.”

“One this is all Sam’s fault. And Jake’s for distracting me.  Two, you found it funny until Sam decided to take the hand removal scene to literally.”

“You act like an idiot, I’m going to laugh at you like an idiot.” Unique smiled at him. “We’ve been through this.”

Ryder smiled back before he scanned the scene before him.  The party had moved from Jake’s backyard to the park to get the best view of the fireworks.  Sam had recovered from causing his near hand removal and was currently engaged in a hacky sack battle with Jake.  Tina was braiding Marley’s hair while Marley and Kitty braided together flower crowns.  Artie was already wearing one and Ryder was fairly sure the one the girls were currently working was for him.  (And he’d totally rock that crown.)  Matt and Artie were engaged in a conversation Ryder had heard bits and pieces of.  He really needed to ask them what they meant by “hairography”.   “We’re going to miss the fireworks if you don’t hurry up.”

“Nothing starts until I’m present. You know that.” Unique scoffed, patting his hand once more before gently blowing on it.  “There. Now you are fixed up to go and get hurt again.”

With a grin, Ryder pulled Unique close to him, ignoring her startled yelp. “You’re the best. You know that right?”

“I always did but it’s nice to see you agree.” Unique whispered back to him before letting go.  “Now go be gone.  Tina promised I could paint her nails while we wait.  I am dying to see what Green Envy looks on her.”

“Ok but save me a spot on your blanket for fireworks!” Ryder called out as he raced off to join Sam and Jake.  Unique shook her head and joined the other girls.  She gestured for Marley to hand over some flowers.  “Who do we still need to make crowns for?”

“”Kitty is working on Sam’s.  Tina is going to make Jake’s when she’s done with my hair.  We thought you’d want to make Ryder’s so I’m making Matt’s.” Marley smiled brightly.  

Out of the corner of her eye, Unique caught Kitty snickering quietly to herself.  Narrowing her eyes she noticed Tina biting her lip to keep from laughing.  “What do mean you thought I would want to  make a crown for Ryder?”

“Well it is the sort of thing a girlfriend does.  Kitty made one for Artie.” Marley pointed out.

“We are not dating. Not now and not ever.”

“We’ll remind you of that when you two are leaning all over each other during the fireworks.” Kitty smiled as she stood up.  “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go put this on Sam and then immediately send Blaine a picture.  He can consider it my wedding present.”

Marley watched Kitty skip off to where Sam was goofing off with Ryder and Jake.  “Look I know you say there is nothing going on with you and Ryder.  But it really does seem like you two are dating.  You do everything together now.  You go out together every Friday night.”

Tina tugged lightly on Marley’s hair, wrapping a band around it.  “I know it’s been a while since I’ve done it, but it seems like dating to me.”

“Dating implies feelings of a romantic nature.” Unique pointed out.  “Something Ryder and I don’t share.”

“Something Ryder and _Katie_ shared.”  Marley pointed out.  

“We aren’t going there.”

“Look he’s obviously gotten past that.”  Marley shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just saying there is a possibility there.  And you are the one that keeps telling me to look out for possibilities.”

“You are supposed to take  my flawless advice. Not throw it back in my face.”

“It’s in the bylaws of New Directions” Tina smiled.  “Paragraph six, subsection 5. Never say anything you aren’t willing to get thrown back in your face.”

“Is it too late to get out of my contract?”

“Yes.  You had thirty minutes to back out. Then you’re ours forever.”

 


	12. Chapter 11

“Marley.” Jake left the hacky sack game (A phrase he used loosely since Sam and Ryder stopped every five seconds to throw the ball at someone’s head)  to run over to where Marley and Unique were sitting on a nearby blanket.  She looked up at him and even with the darkening sky, Jake could see the wariness in her eyes.  It killed him he was the reason that look was there but he supposed it was nothing he didn’t deserve.  “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Marley and Unique exchanged a series of looks Jake was very familiar with.  He didn’t know how girls learned to speak telepathically but man did he wish sometimes he could do that.  (He and Ryder tried to come up with their own telepathic exchange but people thought Ryder was about to have a seizure and called 911.)  Unique fixed her eye on him, the warning not to screw this up all over her face.  “I think I see Tina needing me to save her from being third wheel to Kitty and Artie.”

Biting his tongue to keep from pointing out Tina was actually sitting with Matt and didn’t need saving, Jake smiled hoping to dull the warning in Unique’s face.  Marley closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath before looking him in the eyes.  “You wanted to talk?”

“Can I sit down?” Jake gestured to the space Unique just vacated.  He knew he was pushing his luck but he could also feel everyone’s eyes on him.  After all no one had ever accused his friends of being subtle.  Maybe if he sat down they would all quit trying to figure out what was going on.

Marley shrugged her shoulders.  “I guess. Sure.”  

Sitting down, Jake took his own deep breath.  “Look I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry.”

“Jake we’ve already been through this.” Marley shook her head.

“No about that.  I mean kind of.”  Jake rubbed his eyebrow with his finger before blowing out a breath.  “I wanted to apologize for Bree attacking you.  She’s pissed at me and she shouldn’t be dragging you into it.”

“You can’t control what Bree does.  Even if you were dating her that would be impossible.” Marley paused before asking hesitantly.  “ _Are_ you dating her?”

“No.  Going after her was a mistake.  But not one I need to talk about with you. I know you don’t want to hear it.”

“Not particularly no.”  Marley agreed with a small smile.  Ever since the day Marley found out about Bree, he had been on the receiving end of more strained smiles than his mom’s customers at the country club.  This was a real smile, small but real.  It was progress.

“I’m probably pushing my luck here, but I have to ask.  Do you think we could be friends again? I know we would dance together during glee club but we didn’t talk.  I mean if you hate me I get it, but…”

“I don’t hate you.” Marley interrupted softly.  “This would be a lot easier if I did. But that doesn’t mean I want to date you again.”

Jake put up his hands in surrender.  “I wasn’t even going to ask that. I promise.”

“You know….I think I believe you on that one.”

“It’s the truth.” Jake leaned closer to her and pushed her hair behind her ear like he used to.  He offered up a sad smile.  “I am sorry I hurt you and I do want to be your friend.”

“I know you’re sorry.” Marley replied quietly.  “And I do want to be your friend.  I’m trying.”

“Me too.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So why exactly are we all pretending not to stare at Marley and Jake?” Matt asked Tina as she slapped his hand to stop him from looking over at the two for the fifth time after she told him to look over at them.  “And stop hitting me. You’re the one who told me to look in the first place!”

“We aren’t looking because if they are getting back together then they don’t need an audience. But if they are getting back together then I need to know so I can text Blaine all the details immediately.”

“You make no sense. You do realize this.”

“I may be moving but I am still the best source for news in Lima and I intend to stay that way.”

“News. Gossip. Same thing I’m sure.” Matt teased her, bumping their shoulders together before looking back over where Marley and Jake were still sitting and talking.  “Do you think they are getting back together?”

Tina shrugged her shoulders.  “Not sure.  Marley was pretty pissed when Jake cheated and she’s been pretty vocal about staying single for awhile.  Then again if cheating was the be all, end all deal breaker in the choir room?  No one would ever hook up. And seriously if Finn and Quinn could get back together after the whole baby lie….I mean completely doomed to fail but they sure didn’t ask me.  Just I’ve seen other couples come back from worse circumstances”

“But she’s been saying she wants to stay single?” Matt knew it was a bad idea to repeat that point but he couldn’t stop his mouth quick enough.  

“Yes…” Tina said slowly.  “You’re showing an unusual interest in this.  You have a drama avoidance problem.”

“Just want to get my facts straight. Marley and Jake don’t talk much about it other than they broke up.”  Matt shrugged his shoulders. “I just don’t want to stick my foot in my mouth is all.”

“Yeah because _you’re_ so talkative.” Tina fixed a quizzical look on him. Matt caught her eye and saw the second an explanation came to her.  Her face lit up quicker than the fireworks they were currently waiting on.  “Matt! Do you have a crush?”

“I do not have a crush.” Matt protested.   He didn’t.  He so didn’t have a crush.  Crushes were pathetic.  And crushes on girls who were about to start their junior year in high school when he was going to start college was even more pathetic. No matter how cute said girl was.  Or sweet.  Or how much he enjoyed talking with her the few times they were alone long enough to talk with each other.  It was completely ridiculous. He _did not have a crush_.

And if he was perhaps concerned about Marley considering getting back with her ex it was simply because he liked seeing her smile and join in the with group stuff more often.  It was called being a friend. Or trying to be a friend at least.

“You do. You have a crush.” Tina bounced  happily on her knees, hitting his arm.  “You should totally ask her out. You’d be so cute together.  Sickeningly cute.  Tell me you’re going to ask her out.”

“You were just convinced she was going to get back together with Jake no more than 5 seconds ago.”  

“I thought she might. _MIGHT_.  That doesn’t mean she will.  And I also said she’s been very vocal about staying single right now.  She went on one date with Ryder since they broke up and that was months ago.  Way before Nationals.”

“So in New Directions terms? That’s means what? Years?’

“Centuries. It means centuries.” Tina nodded seriously.  “The girls and I have been trying to convince her to get back out there and you’d be _perfect_.”

“So I should ask out a girl I didn’t even say I liked because you think it’s time for her to date again?”  Matt cocked up an eyebrow.

“One you do like her because you wouldn’t be this interested in if she would get back together with Jake if you didn’t.  Two…”

“Two nothing you’ve said even hints that even if I were interested she’s interested in going out with me.” Matt interrupted quickly.  

“Oh that’s easy. I can totally find that out for you by the end of the night.” Tina waved her hands of his concern.  

“No you won’t.” Matt grabbed her hands in his. “Tina I know you mean well but you can’t just will people into dating because you think they would look cute.”  

“My Tumblr says otherwise.”

“Look I appreciate the support but don’t. _If_ I was to ask her out, I’d like it to be because she wants to go out with me and not because you practically shoved her into it.”

“I wouldn’t shove.” Tina protested. “I’d nudge.  Forcefully nudge.”  

“Tina.  I need you to not.”

“I’m not allowed to want my friends to be happy?”

“You are allowed that. You are not allowed to force to happen on your timetable.  Now let’s sit here and enjoy the fireworks.  And if you drop it like I asked you to, I may help you with convincing Sam you  need to braid flowers into his hair to help his modeling career.”

Tina pursed her lips together in consideration, narrowing her eyes at him.  She held up a finger.  “Alright. I’ll drop it for now but only because I need those pictures before he gets that haircut I keep hearing him talk about.  But I have not forgotten it.”

“Can you at least wait till after I leave to tell Kitty and Unique everything?”

Tina let out an affronted huff but Matt just kept a steady gaze at her.  She shrugged her shoulders with a smile. “Ok fine.  I’ll at least wait till tomorrow.”

“That’s all I ask.  That and you tell me what is going on with Ryder and Unique.  Because Ryder keeps saying they aren’t dating but….”

“Honey if I knew I would tell you.”  

 


	13. Chapter 12

“You do realize when I move you actually have to...walk for yourself right?” Artie teased as he pushed himself and Kitty through the park.  Kitty was currently curled up on his lap as they made their way towards the parking lot.  Not that he was complaining about the cuddling.

They had spent most of the morning by the duck pond, supposedly to feed the ducks and have a picnic.  Which apparently translated into having a splash war in the pond, eating a little, having a food fight which of course required another splash war.  Now he was going to drive them both home so they could get cleaned up for their planned movie date.   (Kitty had chosen _Pacific Rim_.  His girl was nothing but surprising.)  

“I’ve changed my mind. You’re not going to film school. You’re going to stay here and be my personal chauffeur.”

“That does mean I’ll have to film all your cheerleading practices to fulfill my artistic vision.”

“Ok the whole vision here is how this works for me. Not for you to become a bigger pervert.”

“You know you love being the star of all my movies.” Artie smiled as the neared the parking lot.

Kitty leaned back, arching her eyebrow.  (Sometimes Artie had to wonder if his girlfriend and Kurt weren’t really long lost cousins or something because Kitty’s eyebrow was just about as scary as Kurt’s.)  “You better dial back the creepy meter.”

“Please. You love it.”  Artie scoffed as Kitty jumped off his lap.  She scrunched up her nose in his direction but he knew her. He could see the laugh in her eyes.  

“I do not. And I certainly will not miss your pervy tendencies when you leave.”  She flipped her hand in the air and Artie reached out to grab it in his.

“I do realize you are lying with the whole not missing me thing. Or at least I think you are lying. But we do need to talk about this.  I’m leaving at the end of August and it’s already July.”

“We don’t need to talk about it. There’s nothing to talk about.”  Kitty shrugged.  “You’re moving and I’m not going to miss you being a perv 99 percent of the time we are together.”

“It’s much closer to only 50 percent of the time.” Artie argued without letting go of her hand.  “And you can’t keep switching the subject every time the fact that I’m moving comes up.  Or make jokes about how you aren’t going to miss me.”

“Who said they were jokes?”

“ _Kitty_.”

With a sigh Kitty pulled her hand back from Artie’s and leaned over to look him in the eye.  “I realize you are leaving .  I realize that I will miss you.  I also don’t want to spend every day this summer talking about it.  I’d like to enjoy my summer and not spend all my time crying.  I’m not going to turn into Tina thank you very much.”

“Tina is pretty much the closest thing I have to a sister at this point so it would be deeply disturbing if you did turn into her.” Artie pushed his glasses up his nose.  

“Exactly.So let’s get a move on. If I miss the first battle sequence I will break up with you on principle.”

“For the record, constantly talking about breaking up with me doesn’t convince me you’re going to miss me.”  Artie pointed out as he pushed himself towards his car.

Kitty stopped directly in front him causing Artie to almost run into her.  “I’m not Tina and I’m not going to spend my entire summer crying. I’m not Blaine or Marley and write you a weepy song about how much I miss you. “ She took a breath and her smile softened.  “But it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do either one of those. I just refuse to be that much of a loser.”

Artie smiled at her. “That’s my girl.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hi….Tina…” Jake said slowly as Tina rushed past him carrying her laptop and an obviously stuffed backpack behind her into the studio.  “I guess you came prepared?”

Tina shot him a dirty look as she put her stuff on the ground  near the mirrors.  “Have we met?  I am going to win this crown Jake Puckerman.”

Jake held his hands up in surrender.  The look on her face was inspiring flashbacks to the Katy Perry/Lady Gaga week in glee club.  The last thing he wanted was for Tina to suggest making the audience her slaves again.  No good come of that. “It was an observation. Not a criticism.”

“Good.” Tina patted the floor next to her for him to sit down.  “Now I was thinking tap might be the easiest way to do a routine where I sing and dance.”

Jake considered the suggestion.  “I can work with that.  I haven’t done a lot of tap but we can figure it out.”

“Good. So I was thinking Sutton Foster in _Anything Goes_.”  

“Who in what?” Jake asked, complete confusion on his face.

“Sutton Foster.   _Anything Goes_.” Tina repeated slowly.  “How can you not know who that is?”

“Am I supposed to?”

“I can’t believe you.” Tina threw her arms up in rage.  “She’s only like...Broadway royalty.”

“I don’t do Broadway. Now if you had said Missy Copeland….”

“Well look at you Mr. Big Bad Ladies Man name dropping a prima ballerina.”

“I do take ballet Tina.”  Jake pointed out.

“Point taken.” Tina nodded.  “Ok so _Anything Goes_ has some pretty tap heavy numbers so I thought we could watch some and see what we could adapt? Plus the songs are all classics so that will go over well with the judges.”

“You’ve really done your research on this.”

Tina poked him in the middle of his chest.  “I am serious about winning this.  And I want you to work me until I drop. No taking it easy on  me.  I want to work until we both drop from exhaustion.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal.” Jake saluted her.  “So give you the full Vocal Adrenaline experience?”

“Exactly.” Tina smiled pleased.  “Just you and me locked in this room for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the pageant.  Will you be able to stand it?”

Jake winked at her. “Being forced to spend all day with a beautiful woman. I can think of worse ways to spend my summer.”

Tina giggled, lowering her head to hide her blush behind her hair.  “I forgot what a smooth talker you are.  It’s been awhile since you’ve used your charm on me.”

Leaning closer to her, Jake smiled brightly. “You better get used to it since we’re going to be spending so much time together.”

“Oh I will.” Tina promised, bumping him with her shoulder.  “But first I’m going to rectify your sad excuse of a dance education and introduce you to the gloriousness that is Sutton Foster.  Pay attention. There will be a test later.” She put her hand and covered his mouth, turning to look him straight in the eye. “I swear to God if you say I can test you anytime and so much as think of winking at me when you say it? I will kick you in the shins so hard.”

Jake pulled her hand off his mouth.  “Can I just think it?”

“So long as you don’t get that look in your eye where I know you’re thinking it.” Tina nodded.  “Now Miss Foster demands your full attention so don’t let me catch you drifting off.”

“Just play the video Tina and then we can talk.”

****  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	14. Chapter 13

The midday heat was nearing the point of being considered unbearable but the shade the tall oak tree provided was offering some slight relief.  Unique sighed as she leaned back against the trunk as Marley sat down, rearranging the skirt of her floral sundress.  “Those boys are plumb fools.” Unique announced, gesturing towards the basketball court they had just retreated from where Matt, Ryder and Jake were currently involved in a 3 on 3 game with some guys she vaguely recognized from school.  (She thought she heard Jake say the other guys were on the basketball team with him but honestly she stopped paying attention once the shirts/skins debated had been settled.)  “This day was not made for running around after a rubber ball.”

“You’re the one who said we were coming to watch today.” Marley reminded gently as she pushed her long braid behind her shoulder.  “I was just fine staying home and doing each other’s nails.”

“Ryder asked me to come and I couldn’t really tell him no.”

“Actually you can.  You just don’t seem to want to.” Marley corrected with a smile.  “He doesn’t even have to try to make puppy dog eyes at you and you cave.”

“I do not cave.” Unique protested, sitting up straighter.

“You spent most of the day wondering if we moved to the center of the sun. Ryder texts an invitation to watch him play basketball and you didn’t even hesitate to say yes.” Marley pointed out as she leaned back and nudged Unique’s shoulder.  “That sounds like a cave to me.”

“We didn’t come here for me. We came here for you.” Unique dismissed with a wave of her hand.  “One can not get back into the dating game by staying home and painting their nails.”

“Who said I want to re-enter the dating game? I’m single and staying that way remember?”

“That was all well and good when you were nursing your broken heart and the boys decided they wanted to revisit the ghosts of feuds past.  But we have all moved on.  Jake and Ryder had their moment of understanding back in LA.  You are actually talking to Jake again instead of running away when you see him.”

“You and Ryder are dating.” Marley interrupted quickly, giggling when Unique stopped mid sentence sputtering.

“That is the last time we hang out with Miss Tina. Her usually lovable brand of crazy has gone demented and infected everyone I love and care about.”

“I don’t know why you think it’s so crazy.  He was crazy about you when he thought you were Katie.  And you two have moved past that and now he can be crazy about you as you.  You two spend almost all your time together.  Ryder sees you more than I see you.  And you two would be really cute together.”

“And you just said the reason why we are not dating.  If he was ever crazy about me it was when he thought I was a skinny blonde girl.  Someone who looked like Kitty but nicer. The second he knew it was me?  Well you were there. You saw.”

“I saw him react the same way when he thought _I_ was Katie.” Marley whispered gently.  “And I thought you guys worked through all that.”

“We worked through it by pretending it never happened.  It was the best thing for everyone.  And now we’re friends and that’s all we’re ever going to be.”

“You both don’t act like that’s all you’re ever going to be.” Marley fixed what Unique was sure the other girl considered her most intimidating stare.  Unique thought it made her best friend look like an overly serious puppy.  “I want you to be happy. I want you both to be happy and you make each other happy.”

“Happy as friends.” Unique leaned closer to Marley and whispered.  “And if watching him play on the skins team in the heat makes me happy then he doesn’t need to know that.”

Marley burst out laughing, covering her blushing face with her hands.  “I’ll never tell your shameful secret.”

“Good. And now that I’ve reminded you yet again that Ryder and I are just friends you are going to come to out with us tonight to make up for you hideous lapse in judgement.  We’ll get Matt and Jake to come. Tina too if we can get her to forget about her super secret project for a minute.  If Kitty and Artie would answer their phone they can come too.”

“Come where?” Ryder asked with a wide smile as he led Jake and Matt under the shade of the tree.   Unique shot him a glare as he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.  

“Nowhere if you destroy this top with your sweat Ryder Lynn.” Unique shoved him off, ignoring the smug look Marley was shooting her.  “I was telling Marley we should all go to dinner together but if you ruined this outfit then it will just be us girls.”

“I barely touched you.” Ryder protested, still smiling.  “And you said the same thing when I splashed you at the pool last week and we still went to dinner then.  I so don’t believe you.”

“You are incorrigible.” Unique looked over at Matt and Jake, who were trying not to laugh.  “I don’t care what Miss Marley over says she is coming out with me tonight.  So what about you fine gentlemen?  Are you in?”

“Can’t.” Jake shrugged his shoulders and stole a glance at his watch as he put it back on.  “As much as I love to spend time with beautiful women, I have a previous engagement.  One that I’m going to be late for.  I’ll catch you later. Have fun.”

“Bye.”  Unique watched as Jake jogged off in the direction of his house.  “Those plans better not include a certain cheerleader.”

“Unique.” Marley put her hand on Unique’s. “It’s fine. He’s not seeing her.  He told me that and I believe him.  Also if she was in the picture she wouldn’t miss a chance to rub it in my face.  You don’t have to protect me.”

“Marley a leaf falling on you could bruise you so you’ll forgive me if i just ignore that last thing you said.” Unique smiled up at Matt. “What about you Tall Dark and Quiet?  You are coming with us tonight right?”

“I have a feeling that if I said no you’d probably ignore me.” Matt laughed.

“Intelligence.  I always like that in a man.” Unique smiled.  “Then it’s settled. The four of us will go out tonight.   Ryder can pick me up like we planned. Matt you live close to Marley so you can pick her up.  We’ll meet at Breadstix in about two hours?  I know I need to get home and get my hair just right.”

“Your hair is perfect.” Ryder promised as he stood up.  “But the rest of the plan sounds good.”

“You don’t have to pick me up.” Marley promised as she stood up and smiled at Matt.  Unique did not miss the way her best friend flushed a little.  Now that was something she needed to investigate further.  “I can just meet you guys at Breadstix.”

“It’s fine.” Matt smiled as he caught Marley’s eye. “You are pretty close to me and it would be easier for you. Don’t worry about it.”

As the quartet broke up, Unique made a silent note to talk to Marley about reconsidering her vow to remain single.  There seemed to be some interest from Matt and he was a nice, college aged guy.  If nothing else his presence might inspire Bree to give up her campaign to make Marley miserable.  Plus he was easy on the eyes and if he was to date her best friend then she would get to look at him some more.  Benefits all around.

Maybe on their way to the restaurant she and Ryder could talk about making this a regular thing, at least for the four of them.  Even if nothing happened between Matt and Marley it would still be nice to have a regular outgoing on with other people. Not that she didn’t enjoy spending time with Ryder (far from it) but it was nice to spend time with other people now and again.  At the very least it would lessen the stares they got and would keep Ryder from feeling he needed to defend her every time they went out.  

it was worth discussing at least.  But first, they needed to see how tonight went.  

 


	15. Chapter 14

“Hey do you want to hang out with Ryder, Unique, Marley and Matt tonight?” Kitty asked as she read the text from her position on Artie’s couch.  

“That’s a pretty random grouping even by the standards of our friends.” Artie puzzled as he came into the living room, a bowl of popcorn on his lap.  

“Unique’s attempt to be subtle I’m sure.” Kitty rolled her eyes fondly. “She’s convinced Marley should date Matt so she and Ryder will probably ditch them halfway through.”

“Sounds like it has bigger trainwreck potential than a drunken party at Rachel’s.”

“I’m going to pretend I understand that reference and say no.” Kitty nodded with finality as she texted a response back to Unique.  “Now about the theme of this movie marathon you pulled together…”

“Theme? Woman you crazy.” Artie scoffed as he lifted himself on to the couch.  

Kitty lifted an eyebrow as she held up the DVD boxes.  “ _Atonement_.   _Going the Distance_. _Dear John_.  You want to tell me there’s theme other than your suddenly lame taste in movies? Did you turn into Marley when I wasn’t looking?”

“ _Atonement_ is a modern classic.”  Artie protested before putting a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

“You mean Keira Knightley’s body is a modern classic.” Kitty tossed the DVD boxes towards them.  “Every last one of them is about long distance relationships.  You’re about as subtle as Blaine.”

Artie’s jaw dropped in outrage.  “How dare you!”

“You’re the one bringing up something we already talked about.”

“No. I tried to talk about it. You didn’t want to and pushed it off.” Artie corrected.

“Potato, potahto.” Kitty waved him off. “We’ve discussed this.”

“Kitty.” Artie reached over and grabbed her hand in his and looked straight into her eyes.  “I’m not trying to pressure you into doing anything here.  I just want to know where we stand.”

Kitty looked down at the pattern on the couch, biting her lip but she didn’t pull her hand away. Artie figured that had to be a good sign.  “Do you want to break up?”

“No.” Kitty sighed exasperated.  “That we’ve already talked about.”

“Then you want to do long distance.”

Kitty closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath.  “No.” she admitted softly.

“Ok…...I’m confused.” Artie said slowly as he started to pull his hand back.  

“I don’t want to break up with you but I don’t think long distance is a good idea.” Kitty sighed, her eyes trained on the coffee table.  She pulled a throw pillow from behind her back and put in her lap, her fingers picking at the corner.  “You’re going to New York and I’ll be here….”

“Yeah I’m aware of that.”

“I’ll be here for _two more years_ Artie.  And I don’t know what I want to do after school or where I want to be at that point.  I don’t even know if I want to take Mr. Martinez's Spanish class in the spring this year or next.”

“Well he is fantastically good looking.  I suggest next year so you can have a pleasant senior year.”

“Not the point but noted.” Kitty smiled, finally looking up at him.  “The point is that you’re leaving this God forsaken town and you know exactly what you want and where you need to go to get that.  I’m going to be here and have no idea where I’ll end up by the time I leave.  I may decide to take up pro surfing in Hawaii.”

“Well there’s nothing wrong with that.” Artie tilted his head to the side, imagining Kitty sitting on the beach in her bikini waxing a surfboard.  “Nothing wrong with that at all.”

“Quit picturing me in a bikini you pervert.” Kitty smacked his hand, cause Artie to shake the fantasy from his brain.  “And its not like we’ve seen anyone make long distance work.”  

Artie opened his mouth to argue but Kitty leaned over and cover his mouth with her hand.  “And before you try to say Kurt and Blaine, they spent most of the year broken up, Blaine ran around in a superhero costume at one point and when they did get back together they were engaged like 30 seconds after that.  Not normal.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“At the end of the summer, when you move to New York, we’re friends.  If we meet other people, then it’s fine.  And when I graduate if I ended up in New York for whatever reason, then we see where we are.”

“And until then?”

“Until then we’re still us.  Exactly like we are.”

She made sense.  Even if he didn’t exactly want to admit he knew Kitty’s words made sense.  Long distance was hard and not a single one of his friends had managed to make it work. At least not at first.  It probably would be different if Kitty was going to graduate this year but she wasn’t.  He didn’t want to lose her, but this way? This way he could still keep her a little bit.  

“I have a question.  Say I agree with you on this.  What happens if say I come home for Christmas and we’re both still single?”

Her shoulders began to shake with laughter. “Are….are you asking me if we can hook up over breaks if we’re both still single?”

“It’s not my fault you can’t resist my charms.”

“I can learn.” Kitty snorted as she moved to cuddle into his side.  “Especially if you keep pushing crappy movies.  Hand me the remote. Someone is showing _Fast and Furious_ somewhere. I know it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I am never going to get this.” Tina almost screams as she pounded her foot.  She had missed the step for the fifth time.  It was hot (even with the air conditioning) and Jake had been working with her on this routine for the last two hours.  She was beyond frustrated and moving right into mad.

“Take a break.” Jake tossed her water bottle in her direction.  “You’ll get it. You’re just forcing the step.”

“I don’t have time to just relax and let the step come to me.  I need this routine to be perfect now.”

“You’re impatient and that’s why you keep missing the step. You’re trying to be three moves ahead.” Jake sat down, his back against the mirror.  “That’s why you need to take a break and come back to it.  Refocus.”

Huffing out a breath and pushing her hair out of her eyes, Tina slid down the wall and joined him. “Did I tell you thanks for meeting me tonight yet?”

Jake shrugged before taking a sip from his own water bottle. “I didn’t have any plans anyway.  No big deal.”

“And thanks for not telling anybody about this?”

“It’s not a big deal even if I don’t get why you don’t want anyone else to know.”

Tina sighed, leaning her head against the mirror. Jake looked over, first noticing the long line her neck made when her head was back like that and then at her face.  “I want to win but given my track record this year? I’d rather not have an audience for my inevitable failure.”

“You aren’t going to fail.”

Cocking her eyebrow up, Tina looked over skeptically at him.  “And what about my track record would say differently?”

“Winning prom queen.”

“Being Carrie-d.”

“Getting into Columbia.”  Jake smiled proudly when Tina couldn’t immediately come up with a negative to that one. “See?  You won there.”

“One thing.  One thing all year does not mean I’m going to win this against girls who look like Quinn, and Brittany and Sugar.  Or doing these things since they were like fetuses like Rachel. I was so stupid to even sign up for this.  I should just quit.  You can have your life back and we’ll never speak of it again.”

“Nope. Sorry. Not happening Queen T.” Jake pushed himself off the floor, moving to standing directly in front of her.  He held out his hand to help her get off the floor.  “You are going to get this routine down.  You’ll win this pageant.  And we’re going to start right now making sure that happens.”

“And how do you know this is going to happen?”  Tina asked, eying his hand warily.

“Because you’re Tina Cohen-Chang.  And I’ve never know you to back down from a challenge.”  Jake said simply before grabbing her hand.  “Come on. Get up.”

Tina offered a small smile as he started to pull her up.  Jake took an awkward step back and pulled their still connected hands towards him with unexpected force. Yelping, Tina flailed as she fell forward directly into Jake’s chest.  Looking up at him, their eyes lock and Tina feels herself taking in a breath she wasn’t aware she had needed.  

“Sorry.” she said softly pushing herself off his chest and pulling their hands apart.  

“Yeah. No. No problem.” Jake stammered.  “Let’s...try the step again.  From the top?”

“From the top.”  

 


	16. Chapter 15

The Buckeye Brawlers may have been new to the Lima sports scene, but their matches were always sold out.  A fact even McKinley’s improved football team couldn’t touch.  If roller derby had come to town a few years early, most likely Sue Sylvester would have a championship team at the school and would have installed herself as head coach.  A deafening roar went up as the Brawlers scored against their rivals the Queen City Skaters.  Marley, Unique and Ryder jumped up, cheering along. Matt put his hand over his ear in total confusion.

Catching him out of the corner of her eye, Marley covered her laugh with her hand as she sat down.  “Not your usual scene?”  she teased.

“I lived here almost my entire life.  When did this happen?”

“A couple of years ago.” Marley shrugged.  “Unique can probably give you the entire team history.  I just started coming with her this year.  It’s fun right?”

“I like it. I just have no idea what’s going on.” Matt admitted with a sheepish smile.  “Ryder said he’d tell me the rules but…”

Marley turned to see Ryder jumping on the top of his spot in the bleachers, using Unique’s shoulders to balance himself as he jumped up and down.  “Bond Jane Bond!  Woo hoo!” he screamed.

“Ryder’s Ryder and he got distracted.” Marley giggled with a smile as she turned back to face Matt.  “I don’t know everything but I can try to fill you in?”

“You’re a lifesaver. I mean this is fun and all but I’m just cheering when everyone else is cheering.”

“We’ll see about that when I leave you more confused than you are right now.” Marley bumped his shoulder with hers.  A small sliver of space opened up near the rail as some college kids left for what she assumed was a beer run.  “Might be easier if we get a little closer. Want to chance it?”

“Let’s go. And if anyone tries to stop us, we can see if those blocks I can see them throwing are as effective off the rink.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*

“DarkNessy! That’s my girl!” Unique cheered, turning to high five Ryder.  She narrowed her eyes as two unfamiliar people stood where Marley and Matt had been. Matt had looked like a scared puppy when they came in so she doubted he would have just wandered off. When they went out, especially here, Marley tended to enforce a strict girl code where they came together, left together and kept almost obsessive tabs on each other’s whereabouts at all time.  (The girl really needed to stop marathoning true crime dramas every weekend.  it was warping her mind)  There was no way Marley would just up and leave them.  “Ryder!  Where’s Marley and Matt?”

Looking around and not immediately seeing them, Ryder jumped on to the rise to scan from a better angle.  “There!” He pointed towards the rail.  “They moved up by the rails.”

“The rails?” Unique took Ryder’s offered hand to stand up on the riser to see this for herself.  Looking in the direction Ryder indicated she spotted Marley’s familiar head leaning close to Matt, pointing something out on the scoreboard.  “Well this is going better than I thought it would.”  

“What’s going better?”  Ryder tilted his head to the side, the way he always did when he was confused.  Unique reminded herself quite sternly she was not to find that little habit cute.  

“The two lovebirds over there.  I thought we were going to have to come up with a plan to ditch them in this crowd but looks like they ditched us.” She smiled proudly as she stepped back down.

“Lovebirds? Since when are they dating?” Ryder puzzled following her back off the riser.  

“From the looks of them by the end of the week.” Catching Ryder turning to look at the duo again, she reached out and turned his head to look at her. “Don’t look.  They’ll see us.”

Laughing Ryder gestured to the crowd around them.  “Pretty sure they won’t notice. We can barely see them from here anyway.”

“True. Maybe we should move closer.”  

“Move closer? I can’t look but you want to move closer?”

“Ryder. Honey.” Unique patted his shoulder.  “Marley is my best friend and we stick together.  She has been in a vulnerable place since Jake decided to ignore the wisdom of the ages and channel his older brother. I will not have her hurt again even if Matt does appear to be sweeter than an entire store of candy.  I need to be there to make sure this is going to work the way I think it will.  Also you are about as subtle as a bull in a china shop.  You will do something to draw attention to yourself.”

“I’m still confused on how if you want them to get together, why you think spying on them will help.  Is this girl logic that I will never understand?”

“Yes.  Now we need to figure out a way to get down there.”

“Hold on.” Ryder reached out, grabbing her hand to stop her.  He didn’t let it go when she stopped. A fact she was not going to focus on thank you very much.  “Are they even interested in dating each other?”

“Are you blind? Have you seen the way they’ve been acting all night?”

“Like friends?”

“If a man looked at me like that, I’d friend him all night long.”

“I don’t…what does that….” Ryder shook his head. “Whatever.  Look if we go up there it will make it obvious when you try to ditch them later.  If we stay here, you can just text Marley that we got separated in the crowd and you’ll see her tomorrow.”

Unique finally pulled her hand out of Ryder’s and crossed her arms.  “I’m not sure I like this development where you make sense.”

“I’ll make it up to you by getting ice cream after the match?” Ryder offered with a sheepish shrug of his shoulders.

“Double scoop or I’m moving right now.”

“Yes ma’am.” Ryder offered up a mock salute before pulling her under his arm and wrapping his arm across her shoulders.  “Now let’s watch these ladies kick some Cincinnati asses.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Thanks again for all the explanations.” Matt said as he pulled on to Marley’s street.  “It was a lot more fun once I knew what was going on.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Marley shrugged, the shadows of the street lights dancing across her face.  “It might have gone a little better if Ryder and Unique hadn’t ditched us.”  She shook her head as she looked out the passenger window.  “I can’t believe they just left like that.”

“I’m sure there was a good reason.” Matt offered as they neared her house.  Whatever the reason was, he was glad of it.  He liked Unique and Ryder. He really did. But he wasn’t going to lie and say he wasn’t really happy to have spent time with just Marley. Even if they were surrounded by screaming fans in a roller derby rink.  

“Still. They are way better at explaining it than I am.  I probably just confused you.”

“Would you stop it? You did just fine. And it was fun just the two of us right?  I mean you didn’t run off screaming into the night or anything, so I’m assuming you had fun.”

“Well you are my ride home so running off wouldn’t work out so well for me.” Marley teased.  “But yeah it was fun.”

“Then maybe we should do it again sometime.”

“Roller derby?” Marley turned to face him. “I mean I’m pretty sure they’re going on a road trip but I can look at the schedule…”

“No. Not roller derby.  I mean it was fun but I meant we should do this again. Go out. Just the two of us.”

Matt heard the small intake of breath Marley made and told himself to keep his attention on the road and not look over at her face.  His fingers continued to tap on the steering wheel but he tried to keep it in time with the song on the radio so it wouldn’t look like was nervous.  

“Like a date?” Marley asked quietly.

“Maybe? If you want it to be?  We can just go out as friends. That’s fine.  No pressure or anything. But I like you and I want to spend time with you and that’s kinda the point of a date…”

“You’re babbling.” Marley laughed quietly.  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you babble.”

“You haven’t answered my question and it’s making me nervous.  Babbling happens when I get nervous.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Matt could see Marley chewing on her bottom lip.  He really didn’t want to pressure her but an answer really would be nice.  

“Ok.” Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.  

“I’m sorry?”

“Ok.  We can go out. Like a date.”

Matt could feel his grin grow to ridiculous levels at her acceptance. He turned into her driveway. “Great. Great.  What day would work for you? I know you work with your mom…”

“Kitty?”

Matt blinked at the non-sequitur. “Kitty?”

Marley pointed at her porch. “Kitty is here.”

Following her finger, Matt did indeed see Kitty sitting on Marley’s front porch illuminated by his headlights.  She was curled into herself, her knees tucked under her chin.  Even in headlights he could see she was upset.  “She doesn’t look good.”

“No. She doesn’t.”  Marley unbuckled her seat belt and threw open the door before Matt was able to turn off the engine. He hurried quickly to follow her.  “Kitty.  What’s wrong?”

Marley sat down in front of Kitty, resting her hand on her shoulder.  Matt stood off to the side, not entirely sure how he could help but feeling like he needed to be there just in case.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” Kitty said softly.  “I just needed to talk someone and came here.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Not that long. I don’t know.” Kitty looked up and finally caught sight of Matt standing off to the side.  She jumped up. “Oh.  I interrupted something.  I should go and let you actually get a life.”

“No it’s fine.  Matt was just dropping me off.” Marley waved her hand.  “We’ll talk later. I’m more concerned about you.”

“Yeah. We’re fine.” Matt agreed. He still wasn’t sure what was going on but if Kitty was feeling herself enough to throw off an insult things couldn’t be that awful.  “Marley I’ll call you later?”

“Tomorrow. Call me tomorrow.” Marley smiled as she put her arms around Kitty’s shoulders and started to guide her inside the house.

“Tomorrow.” Matt smiled back as he waited until the girls made it in the house before heading back to his car.  If he perhaps whistled all the way home, no one needed to know.  


	17. Chapter 16

“So your mom knows you’re here?” Marley asked as Kitty wandered back into her room from the hall bathroom she had been sent to change.  Kitty still hadn’t said word one on why she had decided to camp out on Marley’s front porch and Marley wasn’t going to let her leave until her friend talked. This wasn’t like Kitty at all.  Something was wrong.

“Yeah. She thought I was still at Arthur’s so being here was a relief I think.  Even if she didn’t believe me until I sent her pictures of your hallway with all those dorky pictures of you in middle school.” Kitty pushed up the sleeves of the sweatshirt she had borrowed, her arms swimming in the fabric.  “I’m fine.  I was being overdramatic and channeling my inner Tina. I can just go home.”

“No. You wanted to talk to me and now I’m here.  So we can talk.” Marley sat on her bed, sitting crossed legged. She patted the space across from her. “Sit. Talk.”

Kitty rolled her eyes but sat down anyways.  “Talk about how I interrupted a date with Matt?”  she asked in her  most innocent voice, batting her eyes.

“It wasn’t a date. And you’re not going to distract me.  What had you so upset?  Did something happen on your date with Artie?”

“Nothing but the inevitable.” Kitty sighed, throwing herself sideways across the bed.  

“Did he force you to watch his latest movie?” Marley scrunched her face in sympathy.  She didn’t mind most of Artie’s film but the one that was just a leaf blowing in the wind while that line from _Firefly_ repeated over and over in the background pushed the limits of even her friendship.  

Kitty laughed softly.  “No. That might have been less awkward.” She let out a sigh and rolled over on her side. “I told him I don’t think long distance would be a good idea.”

Marley whistled low in sympathy as she laid down beside Kitty.  “He didn’t take it well?” she asked propping her hand beneath her head.

“No. He was ok about it. Even asked if we were both here during breaks if we could still see each other then.”  Kitty shrugged her shoulder. “I mean he wasn’t a total weeping drama queen about it but…”

“But you wish he would have been?”

“No. Not even that.  I’d have to start calling him Blaine if he acted like that.”  Kitty flopped back on her back.  “I know it’s the smart decision.  I just hate it.”

“Well if you hate it why don’t you just do long distance?” Marley offered. “Sounds like Artie would be interested.”

“Sure.  That makes perfect sense.  I still have two more years of high school.  He’s going to school in one of the biggest cities in the country.  And he’s going to a school where his ridiculous film references won’t scare girls off.  They won’t even have to pretend to understand them.”

“Kitty. Come on. You two are so great together.  Long distance can work.”

“Name me one example that isn’t from one of your sad sappy movies. And if you even think of saying Kurt and Blaine I’ll shave your head.  We both remember the complete train wreck they were for most of the year.  I don’t even know if I want to go to New York when I graduate. I don’t even know who I want for homeroom next year.”

Marley leaned over and grabbed Kitty’s hand, squeezing hard.  “I think you two are great together and you’re so happy with him but I get it.  It sucks.  So did you guys break up tonight?”

“No.” Kitty looked over to Marley.  “We agreed to keep dating till the end of the summer.  And when he leaves for New York, we’re friends.  If when I graduate, we’re both still interested we’ll see.”

“The fact he was interested in seeing you during breaks sounds pretty hopeful.”

“Arthur will never turn down a chance to hook up.” Kitty rolled her eyes.  She bit her lower lip.  “Can I ask you something?”

“I assume that’s why you came here.”

“How do you stick to a decision you know is the right one even if you kind of hate it?”  She rolled over to look Marley in the eye.  “I know you wanted to forgive Jake and get back together with him.”

“I did. At first.  But then I talked to my mom.  And you guys.  And watched a lot of sad sappy movies.”

“Oh. And the _Twilight_ marathon led you to some deep spiritual revelation?”

“About my appreciation of Taylor Lautner’s abs? Yes.  But the more I was reminded I made a good choice?  The easier it was.  And eventually it just kinda stopped being hard.  I mean I still care about Jake.  I want him to be happy.  And we’re trying to be friends.  But dating him?  Not for me.”

“Does that have anything to do with Matt?” Kitty teased as she sat up.

Marley blushed and sat up herself.  “No.  I mean he’s a nice guy and he asked me out but…”

“He asked you out? When?” Kitty interrupted excitedly, leaning forward.  

“In the car? Tonight. Right before I saw you on my porch.”

Kitty winced.  “I do have really great timing.”

“No. Don’t worry about it.” Marley pushed her hair off her shoulders.  “He’s going to call me tomorrow and we’ll figure something out.”

“Matt’s a really nice guy.  It probably helps that he didn’t stay in our incestious hive of a choir room for very long.  He’s almost normal.  I think this could be really great for you.”

“It’s one date.  It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Yeah that’s what I told myself about Arthur.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So where did you disappear to last night?” Ryder asked as he delivered Jake his morning coffee.  “What dark and mysterious plans for world domination are keeping you away?”

“You’re watching too many comic book movies.” Jake said slowly before he took a cautious sip.  “Besides playing third wheel to you and Unique is not my idea of a good time.”

“Matt and Marley came too.  You’d have been fifth wheel easy.” Ryder shrugged as he flipped the chair backwards and sat down.  Seeing Jake’s lifted eyebrow, he smiled.  “We’re slow.  And Anna owes me a favor. She’ll cover for me.”

“For someone who constantly asks us not to get him fired, you sure seem well on your way to doing that all on your own.” Jake pointed out.  “Did you ask me to come over this morning to ask if I was going to be in _Avengers 2_?”

“You would be kick ass in that movie….not sure who you would play though.  Quicksilver maybe?  You’re pretty fast….”

“Ryder?”

“Right. Sorry. Focusing.” Ryder shook his head and gave his best serious look.  “I know we really haven’t talked about the whole thing with you and Marley.”

“There is nothing between me and Marley.  I messed up and thank you for my daily reminder of that.” Jake turned on his heel, cup in his hand and heading towards the door.

“No no. That’s not what I meant.” Ryder’s ability to jump to his feet from any position quickly was a skill Jake simultaneously wondered at and was completely jealous over.  “I didn’t bring it up to blame you. I wanted to tell you something and I didn’t know if you’d be ok with it?”

“What are you going to dump Unique and try to date Marley again? Cause I got to tell you no matter what my brother may have told you, dating the best friend of an ex is never a good idea.”  

“Why does everyone think I’m dating Unique? We’re not dating? And no I’m not going to ask Marley out.  She’s told me there’s no chance there.”

“So what does this have to do with her then?”

“Because I think Matt is going to ask her out.” Ryder explained in a rush. “And I didn’t want it to be awkward for you.”

Jake stilled.  It wasn’t like he thought Marley would never date again or that she was pining away for him.  Her choice to date Ryder told him that loud and clear.  He wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t hope he wouldn’t have to see it. “Matt’s a good guy.  And if Marley likes him then great.  Good for them.”

“Dude….”

“Look Ryder I appreciate your concern but the point of breaking up is that people see other people eventually.  It will kind of suck for awhile if they do go out but I’ll be ok.  But thanks for looking out.”

“You sure? You’re already scarce with this secret project of yours and I don’t want this to be another reason we don’t hang out.”

“I promise you I won’t avoid you. And what I’m working on is over at the end of the month.  I’ll be around a lot more after that.”

“If you would just tell me what you’re working on….”

“Can’t. Promised.  If I would I could.” Jake still thought Tina should tell everyone and her fear that she was going to fail epically was ridiculous but he did promise her.  Even if he did know she would love it if everyone came to cheer her on.  Maybe he should call Blaine later and get his opinion on when it was a good time to ignore Tina’s demands.  Blaine did seem to be the only one who could do it without pissing her off further.

“Fine. Go be an evil super villian. See if I help you take over the world later.”

“Come on. You know you want to wear the cape I have in mind.”

“Oh there’s a cape involved. Never mind.  Go plot out world destruction. I’ll be here waiting your instructions.”


	18. Chapter 17

Tina grabbed the handout neatly stacked on the folding table as she walked out of the orientation meeting. Without reading it, she shoved the paper in her purse.  She was an intelligent woman, co-valedictorian of her class, featured member of New Directions and a future student of Columbia University.  The multiple implications that she would be unable to remember a rehearsal time without a handout was insulting.  This may be her first pageant but she wasn’t going to be the overwhelmed nitwit the organizers had heavily hinted she would become if she didn’t follow the ridiculously long suggestions that were  being “helpfully provided for all our young ladies” to the letter.  

Exiting the Allen County Playhouse, Tina leaned against the brick facade and took a calming breath.  Logically she had realized that doing this would come with it’s own set of rules and expectations she knew nothing about.  Her parents had never pushed her into the always popular kiddie pageant circuit everyone else in town seemed to enjoy.  And she knew it wasn’t exactly common for someone who had never done a single pageant to suddenly want to do one right after high school.  But there was scholarship money, which was always good.  And it was the last chance she would have to perform in her hometown for awhile.

She still daydreamed about performing for a living but she had hesitated at the thought of applying to a performing arts college like NYADA.  She could have done it. Blaine had picked up an application for her during one of his many trips to New York.  She had even started to fill it out but when it came time to sign it and send it off, Tina found she couldn’t do it. She did want New York but she wasn’t sure if she wanted NYADA.  

As much as she loved performing, a voice in Tina’s head kept wondering if the point of college wasn’t to try everything. Study all she could.  Find out who she was outside of the choir room.  As much as she loved singing, there was also literature, psychology and political science.  As her parents pointed out when she talked to them about colleges, if performing was really what she wanted to do, she would figure it out and could still do it.  

Still it would be nice to have performed at least one solo in this town.   It would be even better to win.  Which is why her talent routine had to be perfect.  Tina knew she couldn’t control what the judges thought of her dress or swimsuit but she could practice those interview questions and she would nail the talent portion.  

And thanks to Jake, she was actually starting to believe she could pull this off.  Tina had always thought she had a good chance with singing but she had to admit there were times when her entire idea to incorporate a tap routine into her song was insane.  But Jake wasn’t letting her give up on it. He kept insisting she could do that step she kept messing up or that really tricky looking step she swore he stole from a Savion Glover video.  When she was ready to give up, he told her to take a break and then pushed her right back to the routine.

Jake was a good choreographer.  Better than she had given him credit for through the angry haze that had covered most of her senior year.  And he was a good teacher.  He had managed to get Sam to stop kicking Kitty in the shins when they were partnered and that was a small miracle in itself. And she really was enjoying spending more time with him and getting to know him better.  

The fact  Jake really was ridiculously hot and they tended to work up a sweat while rehearsing was just a bonus.  A really great bonus.  As was all the touching Jake had to do to help her get the steps just right.  

Tina would be lying to herself if she didn’t think there hadn’t been at least a little bit of a spark between her and Jake at the start of the school year.  But then he fell for Marley and she reminded herself  that Puckermans were notorious flirts.  She and Jake could dance together and flirt in performances but he would go be by Marley’s side and she would go hang out with Blaine.

And she was going to keep that in mind whenever she saw Jake smiling at her while they rehearsed.  And when she caught him looking at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.  And when she found herself looking a little too long as he wiped sweat from his forehead.  They were friends. He was a flirt.  And he had recently broken up with a good friend of hers and Tina was really working on being a better friend.  Friends don’t date friends’ exes.  

Not that she was thinking about dating him.  She was leaving in less than two months and that was just plain ridiculous. Jake Puckerman was just something nice to look at.  Someone very nice to look at.    Someone very nice to look at that she still had to spend a lot of time with in the near future.  

With a frustrated groan she pushed herself off the wall, grabbing her phone from her bag without looking.  She pushed her speed dial buttons and began talking as soon as she heard the other phone pick up.

“Artie.  Meet me at the Dairy Queen. I need ice cream. And lots of it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There were only two ways this could end and Jake was pretty sure it was going to end badly for him.  Tina may not have gone on the warpath lately but it wasn’t like he forgot about her storm outs.  But he had to do this.  Even though she swore she didn’t want anyone to know, he also was fully aware she’d be upset if no one outside of himself came to support her.  (He never claimed to understand girl logic but he was getting better at predicting it. At least where Tina was concerned.)  Taking a deep breath he pushed the buttons on his phone and waited.

“Jake!” Blaine answered happily.  “What’s going on?”

“Um, a lot actually.” Jake ran his hand over his hair as he walked.  “Got a minute?”

“Sure.  How serious is this?  Do I need to call Burt or Mr.Schue?  You need me to help talk to your mom? Parents love me.”

“What? No. It’s not that bad.  It’s Tina.”

“Tina?  She seemed fine when we Skyped last night.  Did something happen?”

“No she’s fine.” Jake drew out a deep breath.  “She’s doing this thing and she says she doesn’t want anyone to know because she’s convinced she’s going to lose but I think she would really like people to be there.”

“Jake at some point I am going to need details.  Not even Nightbird can read minds.”

Jake stopped as he walked into the Dairy Queen parking lot.  “Tina entered the Miss Allen County pageant to win a scholarship.  She asked me to help her with her talent routine but she doesn’t want anyone else to know.  I don’t even think her parents know about this.”

“Tina? My Tina is in a beauty pageant?” Blaine practically stuttered on the question.

“Yes.  Look you’re the only person who can do something she doesn’t want done and she won’t get pissed at them so I need your help here.”

“Help with what exactly?”

“Telling everyone?  I mean I can tell the guys here but I’ve met her parents I think once. And you just said parents were your speciality….”

“So you want me to tell her parents.”

“And keep it a secret? She’s already half convinced she’s going to lose because she’s cursed or something.  If she finds out people are planning on coming….”

“She may drop out completely or have a panic attack no one can calm her down from.” Blaine finished for him. “ Yeah I see your point.  Ok I’ll talk to her parents. But you’re in charge of making sure Ryder doesn’t ruin the surprise you’re thinking of.  He has no poker face.”

Jake smiled as he made his way towards the door of the Dairy Queen.  “Hey Kurt figured out the proposal because you were acting weird dude. Not because of Ryder.”

“He did not.”

Jake smiled as he walked up to the counter to order his usual chocolate dipped cone.  “Whatever you want to believe dude. I’ll talk to you later.  And thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And he did not figure it out because of me.”  

Jake laughed at Blaine’s protest as he ended the call and placed his order.  Learning against the counter, he scanned the restaurant when his eyes landed on Tina sitting by herself eating a sundae.  She looked up and caught his eye, offering up a small wave.

Taking his cone from the cashier, Jake made his way over to where Tina was sitting.  Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and she was casual in a blue and white striped tank top.  Not that she didn’t normally look good, but this more casual summer look was really working for her.  The tan he knew she was working on for the competition was giving her a glow.  It was too bad she’d have to wear all the stage makeup for the pageant because if she could walk that stage, the way she looked now? Jake was positive she would win no questions asked.  She looked gorgeous like this.

“Ice cream break?” He asked as he sat down across from her.

Tina smiled.  Man she had a great smile, Jake thought.  “Something like that. Artie’s supposed to meet me but he’s late.  As usual.”

“Of course he is.  How was that meeting thing?” Jake asked before taking a lick of his own cone.

“It...was...well...it happened.” Tina waved it off with a flick of her hand.  “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Sure.” Jake said easily, smiling wider when he noticed a patch of melted ice cream on her cheek.  “You’ve got some ice cream….” he pointed to his cheek.  Tina went to wipe it away but missed completely.  “Here. Let me.”

Jake reached over, using his thumb to wipe away the melted treat.  He glanced over to tease her about not being able to feed herself without supervision but their eyes locked.  She always looked good and he had thought she looked beautiful before. But now? Up close and with the sun behind her?  He really couldn’t see why anyone would walk away from her without a second glance.  

“Got it.”  He said softly for reasons he wasn’t entirely sure of.

“Thanks.” Tina said equally quietly.

“Not that I don’t enjoy a quality Blizzard run but is there a reason you needed me on this run?”Artie asked as he came up to the table, startling them both. “Looks like Jake has you covered on the company angle.”

“Oh. We just ran into each other here.” Tina said quickly as Jake slid back into his seat.  Artie gave them both a confused stare at Tina’s rapid babble.  

“Okay…..it’s only cause I know you’ll crack and tell me that I’ll let this momentary weirdness pass.  That and I don’t want to waste quality Blizzard time.”

“Gotta have priorities.” Jake agreed.

**  
**“Exactly.  So we’ll get back to this. But let’s eat!”


	19. Chapter 18

“I’m still not sure how helping you with your talent routine means I’m now your fashion consultant.” Jake tossed his keys into the air and he leaned back against the way too plush couch.  “I’m pretty much the worst person imaginable for this job.”

He wasn’t just out of his league here, he was out of his solar system.  When Tina had called him, begging to meet her for a “pageant related emergency” he had thought maybe she found out someone else was doing her same routine.  (There were two things he had complete and total faith in this world.  One - his mom would always know he had failed a test even before he got the grade back and Two - Tina Cohen- Chang would find out any and all information with what he was sure were magic voodoo ways) When he showed up at her house, she pulled him into her Prius and drove them directly to the mall.  The emergency was apparently a disastrous bleach spill on her original dress for the pageant and now she had to find a new one pronto.  And for some reason Tina thought he would be perfect to help her try on every dress at Miss Priss, the most expensive dress shop Lima had to offer.  

“I can call Blaine and put him on Face Time.” Jake offered.  “He’d be way better at this.”

Tina stuck her head out from behind the curtain that made the dressing “areas” of Miss Priss private.  “What part of I don’t want anyone to know about this do you find so hard to understand?  And if you want to try to claim you don’t know what looks good on a woman, I’m going to be forced to remind you that I know your brother. I won’t hesitate to remind you where you two are similar.  You’re doing fine.”

“I’m not being held responsible if the judges don’t like your dress.” He threw his keys to high and cringed when he heard them fall behind the couch.  The ladies in the shop had already eyed him with suspicion when he walked in and the loud clunk his keys just made weren’t going to win him any favors.  As he stood up to retrieve his keys, he caught sight of Unique and Marley walking arm and arm past the shop. Biting his lip, he looked back at Tina’s dressing room.  “Hey Tina? I’ll be right back. I just saw my mom.” He called out over his shoulder as he dashed towards the doors of the store.

Sliding out into the main area of the mall, he took a second to spot Unique and Marley just outside the shoe store he was positive Tina was going to insist on going to next.  “Unique! Marley!  Wait up a second!”  he yelled as he jogged up to catch them.

He didn’t miss the confused looks on Marley and Unique’s faces as he neared them.  “Jake….did you...were you just in Miss Priss?” Marley asked hesitantly.

“Is there something you need to share with us Jacob?” Unique pulled Marley a little closer to her.

“Yes I was in Miss Priss and I gotta get back quick or she’ll know something’s up.”

“She?” Marley and Unique asked in unison.  

“Tina.”

“You’re shopping at Miss Priss with Tina.” Marley repeated slowly.  

“I know it sounds weird…”

“Oh we are beyond weird at this point.” Unique cut him off.

“Look you know how I’ve been busy lately?” Seeing the two girls nod, Jake continued.  “I’ve been helping Tina. She signed up to do the Miss Allen County pageant and I’ve been helping her with her talent act.  I’m not sure why she decided I was need for an emergency fashion consultation but that’s why I was there.  And I have to get back because she can not know I was talking to you two.”

“I’m sure you think this explanation will make everything make sense but I promise you honey it’s not working.” Unique shook her head at him.

“Tina didn’t want anyone to know about the pageant. She’s convinced she’s going to lose so she swore me to secrecy.  But come on we all know Tina. She’s going to want us there and she’ll be pissed if we don’t show up. Even if we weren’t supposed to know about it.”

Marley pushed her hair behind her ears.  “So all this time you’ve been running off, you’ve been helping Tina.  And every time she’s been busy with stuff she’s been practicing for this beauty pageant that she entered but doesn’t want us to know about.  But you think we should know about it.”

“I still don’t see why she wants your opinion on fashion.” Unique looked Jake up and down. “Your basic yet comfortable style does not scream pageant winner. Unique knows from pageant winning dresses.”

“I told her I was the worst person to help her with this.  I offered to call _Blaine_ for her and she turned that _down_. “ Jake looked over his shoulder.  “Look Blaine’s already agreed to tell her parents about this but I need your help.  Can you tell everyone else what’s going on?  I think we should all go to this thing for her. As a surprise.”

Marley and Unique looked at each other. Marley smiled softly in his directions. “We can tell everyone but you realize Arite and Kitty are going to have like a million questions to ask you right?”

“And I’ll answer them. Just not while Tina’s around.”

“Fine. We’ll do your dirty work.” Unique waved her hands. “But tell Tina to stick to primary colors and make sure to have a little sparkle. She doesn’t want to look blah under the lights.  And if she loses her mind completely and asks you for hair and makeup advice run, don’t walk and find me.”  

“I promise.” Jake smiled.  “Look I need to get back before she kills me.  We’ll talk later?”

“Go. Shoo.” Unique waved him off. “We have gossip to spread and a surprise to plan.”

“Thanks.” Jake smiled before heading back to the store he left Tina in.  Unique and Marley would make sure everything would go perfectly to surprise Tina.  He mentally congratulated himself for taking the risk of running after them.  Taking a deep breath, he walked back into Miss Priss; already trying to compose a story about what exactly he had needed to chase down his mom in the mall for. Twirling his keys on his fingers he attempted to look as casual as possible.

When he saw Tina, the keys stopped twirling.  

She stood in front of the three way mirror in a blue gown that hugged her curves in the same colored lace before dropping down the floor.  There were crystals near her neckline and on the straps that just covered her shoulders.  She held the hem of her dress up a little so it wasn’t dragging on the floor but otherwise it was perfect. She looked perfect in it.

Tina caught him out of the corner of her eye and smiled.  “It’s a little long but I know I can hem this in time no problem.  Four years being stuck sewing costumes finally pays off.” She twirled making the crystal catch the light from the store.  “What do you think? Do I look like Miss America?”

“Miss Universe. You look like Miss Universe.” Jake smiled back at her.  “That’s the dress.”

“You don’t think the lace is too much do you? Or that it’s too loose here?”  Tina pulled at the waist of the dress as she turned around.

“Stop that.” Jake chided as he reached out pulled her hands off the fabric.  He smoothed the fabric over her waist and to her hips.  Hearing the small intake of breath from Tina, he looked at her in the mirror, their eyes meeting in the reflection.  “It’s perfect.”

Tina nodded slowly. “Ok.  I guess this is the dress then.”

“I guess so.”  

It was only when Tina moved to go back to the dressing room that Jake realized his hands were still on her waist.  


	20. Chapter 19

“Follow me Ryder.  We need the best seat in the house for this cinema experience.” Unique announced as he held open the door the theater for her while balancing the bucket of popcorn they had just stopped to buy.  She motioned for him to follow her down the aisle with the hand that wasn’t holding the soda they were planning to share.  Ryder knew from past experience it was generally easier (and in the long run better) to just follow where Unique led.

They didn’t usually go to the movies in the middle of the week but the Ohio Theater was having a classic film festival this summer.  And this week they were showing _Say Anything_ , apparently one of Unique’s favorite movies.  When she mentioned it playing yesterday and wanting to see it, Ryder had suggested they go together.  He’d never seen the movie but it had John Cusack in it so it couldn’t be too bad for a chick flick.  To her credit, Unique saved the lecture on his horrible taste in movies until after she agreed and after he picked her up tonight.

His dad had raised an eyebrow when he had announced he was going out with Unique and would be back later. _“You’ve seen an awful lot of her this summer.”  His father said as he folded over the paper.  “I thought you had other friends.”_

He did have other friends, he had argued with his dad.  His other friends were just busy.  Tina and Jake were off doing that pageant stuff together which he still didn’t know what to make of but Jake was his boy so he’d go with it.  Matt seemed cool but really they had just met.  Between work and now maybe dating Matt, Marley was scarce.  Kitty and Artie were off being a couple which he couldn’t blame them for.  He didn’t know what he would do if he was dating someone that was going to move a metric asston of miles away at the end of the summer.  More often than not if he wanted to do something, Unique was his friend that was free.

Plus she was hilarious to hang out with. They had similar tastes in movies.  She had introduced him to roller derby and he was working on teaching her how to drum.  And there was no one he’d rather kick ass at karaoke with.  Unique was awesome and anyone who didn’t understand that didn’t need it explained to them in Ryder’s opinion.  

As he followed Unique down her selected row, he felt a piece of popcorn hit him in the neck.  His eyes narrowed as he noticed Unique put her hand towards her cheek where something had hit her as well. He turned around, looking for a member of the hockey team or worse the Cheerios smirking and laughing behind their hands at them.  His shoulders relaxed when he spotted Kitty and Artie waving at them from the one handicapped accessible row in the theater.  He’d forgotten how freaky good Kitty’s aim was.  Tapping Unique on her shoulder, he pointed to where their friends were sitting before moving to sit by them.

“You couldn’t have just said hello?” Unique asked as she sat down next to Kitty.  Ryder leaned over the girls to share a high five with Artie.  “If I have butter stains on this shirt….”

“Please. You know I’m a better shot than anyone we know. Including Jake and he’s actually good at basketball.” Kitty rolled her eyes.  “Besides that was way more fun.”

“If I had my camera?  That look you gave would have been viral in a second.” Artie nodded to Ryder.  

“Everyone knows you’re going to make Blaine a viral star first.” Ryder teased putting the popcorn on the armrest between his and Unique’s seats.  He grabbed the soda from her hand, adjusting the height of one of the straws so he would know which one was his. (Unique had a horrible habit of not paying attention to which straw was actually hers if there wasn’t a height difference.)  Kitty and Artie raised their eyebrows at him.  He didn’t think he had did anything out of the ordinary but after being caught doing air guitar with the help of his suitcase before he had realized Ryder figured anything was possible.  “What?  Did I do that dance thing again?”

“Nothing.  Nothing at all.” Artie held up his hands in exaggerated surrender.

Ryder shrugged.  “So is this movie any good?  I think Unique’s biased.”

_**“Is this movie any good?”**_ Artie’s outrage could be heard all over the theater.  At least it was judging by the number of people who turned their heads to look at them.  “Cameron Crowe.  John Cusack.  Cory’s entire song catalogue.  I just….how are we friends?”

Kitty patted her boyfriend’s arm in a comforting fashion.  “Shh.  He’ll learn the error of his ways soon enough.”

The lights began to lower but Ryder could still see the glare Artie was shooting his way.  Ryder leaned over to whisper to Unique. “He’s not going to like….kill me during this movie is he?”

“Probably not.  Kitty won’t want blood on her outfit.  But you just stick close to me just in case.”

“Deal.”  Ryder shifted closer in his seat and put his arm around her shoulders.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The movie was a lot better than Ryder had expected.  And at least now he knew why Mr. Schue had insisted on bringing a boombox when they went to serenade Miss Pillsbury.  So that was cool.  He leaned against the brick wall of the theater, one foot on the wall as he waited with Artie outside for the girls to leave the bathroom.

“So what are you guys doing after this?  Want to go the Lima Bean with us?” Ryder offered.

“We were going to go scope out spots in line for tickets for the monster truck rally in Dayton next weekend.  We don’t want to crash your date anymore.  Thanks though.”

Ryder would have found the monster truck rally thing weird but he had seen the date circled on Kitty’s Facebook calendar for weeks now.  But the second part?  “Date?  Who’s on a date besides you and Kitty?”

Artie shot him an incredulous look while pushing up his glasses with one finger. “Was there someone else who just sat through the entire movie with their arm around Unique’s shoulder?  And she was resting her head on someone else’s shoulder at the end?”

“Dude we’re just friends. You do things like that with friends.”

“You do if you’re Blaine and you’re gay so everyone knows what the score is except Tina.” Artie pushed his chair towards him.  “Tell me you are not this stupid.”

“We’re not dating.” Ryder scoffed as he pushed himself off the wall.  “You’re crazy.”

“I hate to be the voice of reason but you are.  You just took her to one of the greatest chick flicks of all time.  You two are together all the time.  You flirt with her all the time.”

“I am not flirting with her.”

“You are flirting with her the exact same way you flirted with Marley. Everyone knows this.  And when I saw everyone?  I mean everyone in the greater Lima area and the West Lima crack district.   I’m still debating about Lima Heights. You know what? Amend that. Lima Heights too.”

“I’m not flirting with her like I did with Marley.” Ryder protested, his face scrunching up in confusion. “Am I?”

“Minus the dick move song in front of a recent ex boyfriend and the whole giving her boyfriend tips on how to romance her on Valentine’s Day thing. But yeah you are.  If Tina and I were just friends like that? Kitty would castrate me.”

“Kitty would castrate you if you grabbed the last of the popcorn.”

“True.” Artie tilted his head in acknowledgement.  “But my point still stands.  You’re flirting with her. Everyone thinks you two are dating. And if you have no thought of doing just that, you better man up and stop leading her on.”

****  
  


“Unique knows I’m not leading her on. We’re just friends.  She knows that.”

“You sure about that? Cause I remember you being so sure about having feelings for Katie. And that you thought those feelings were mutual.  You were ready to risk our lives when we thought there was a shooter in the hallway over them.  Just saying.  Not all catfishes have ended with people swearing never to talk to each other again”

“We’re past the whole Katie thing.  That doesn’t even come up except when we hang out with Kitty.”

“She just doesn’t want to see her friends get hurt.”  Artie held his hand up to wave as he spotted Unique and Kitty coming out of the theater.  Kitty nodded at them as she and Unique weaved their way through the street towards them, giggling at something.  Unique looked over and smiled brightly at him.  He felt himself smile back.

“I’m going to start filming you.  If you saw the way you look at her….” Artie shook his head.  “You got it bad my brother.”

Ryder shoved Artie’s shoulder. He didn’t look at Unique in a different way than he did with any of his other friends.  There was a very long history that suggested Artie had at best questionable judgement about things anyway.  The dude was making a movie about a plastic bag after all.  

“What was that about?” Unique asked as she and Kitty joined them, linking her arm through Ryder’s.  

“Nothing.” Ryder shook his head.  “Ready for that coffee?”

“Nothing my ass.” Artie mumbled.  “Have fun on the rest of your non-date.”

Unique quirked her eyebrow up as Kitty and Artie started in the opposite direction of the Lima Bean.  “Do I even want to know what that was about?”

“Trust me. You don’t.” Ryder shook his head.  There was no point in bringing it up because he wasn’t treating Unique differently than any other girl he hung out with.  Artie was just reading too much into it.  “Come on. I think I owe you a cookie.”

“Two cookies. You owe me two cookies.”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me forget that.”

****  
  
  



	21. Chapter 20

_**Skype! NOW!!!!** _

Tina stared at the text from Kurt as she waited impatiently for her Skype to load and log in.  She kept trying to convince herself it couldn’t be anything too major or Kurt would have just called her himself.  Or Blaine would have. Unless Blaine _couldn_ ’t…..Tina chewed on the knuckle of her thumb as the idea took hold.  Maybe something had happened to Blaine and Kurt wanted to tell her on Skype so he would be able to see exactly how badly she was taking the news.  That was it. Something terrible had happened to Blaine and Kurt needed to tell her. Or to Sam…..or to Blaine and Sam.  They never should have agreed to move to New York without taking those self defense classes she and the rest of the girls had taken.  She should have at least bought them pepper spray for a going away present.  Some friend she was.  Her best friends were laying in a hospital nearly dying and she hadn’t bought them pepper spray which of course would have saved their lives.

“Tina!” Kurt answered with a smile, waving as he came into focus.Why was he smiling when Blaine was dying in the hospital?  Why was he at the loft? _Why wasn’t he at the hospital??_ “Good. Now we don’t have much time but I know between the two of us we can make this work.”

“Not much time? Do they need me to give a kidney? Or a spleen?  I don’t know what mine does but I’m sure I can live without it.  If Blaine or Sam need my spleen they can have it!”

“Umm….ok.  I’m not sure why they would want a used spleen but I’ll let them know.” Kurt said slowly, raising one eyebrow.  Even in the grainy Skype quality, that was still an intimidating eyebrow.  “Is this something I needed to be at McKinley last year to understand?”

“Kurt. Are Blaine and Sam ok? They aren’t in the hospital dying are they?”

“No. They just left to do some grocery shopping for tonight. They may end up in the hospital dying if they forget my cheesecake.  But not yet.”

“So they’re ok?”

“Yes Tina. They’re fine. I promise if anything did happen I wouldn’t make you get on Skype to tell you.”

Tina let out a breath and collapsed on to her bed.  “Don’t do that to me! Your text sounded urgent and you know what suspense does to me!”

“I’m sorry but we only have so much time before Blaine comes back and he told me not to tell you so we need to do quality work quickly.”

“What does Blaine not want you to tell me?” Tina asked slowly.  

“Look I understand your logic entirely but if I can be real for a moment?  If you are relying on styling tips from a Puckerman, even as one as nice as Jake seems, this can only end in disaster.  If you want to be the queen I know you are, then I’m going to need to see what we are working with.  And see if we have anything in the Vogue vault that will go with Pageant Chic.  I can convince Isabel that could be a feature.”

“I’m sorry. Pageant what?”  Tina sat up straighter.  There was no way Kurt was talking about what she thought he was talking about. Because only one person on Earth knew about the pageant and that person wasn’t Kurt.

“There’s nothing wrong with Pageant Chic. I mean unless you want to unleash Suzanne Sugarbaker hair unironically.  Or drown in sequins.  And really Tina,I don’t know Jake all that well but if his Facebook pictures are any indication he suffers from the same belief his brother did that a solid color t-shirt is the height of fashion.  Once I see this dress then I’ll assess the need for an intervention on him.”

Tina put her laptop down on her quilt and ran her fingers through her hair.  “You know about the pageant.  Jake told you about the pageant?”

“No. He told Blaine who he asked to tell your parents.  And I walked in on that conversation.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but Blaine’s really not that good at lying.”

“I’m going to kill him. I told him to not tell anyone and he told Blaine.  Who told my parents. Oh my god _my parents_ know.  Kurt you know my mom’s feelings about pageants.”

“Your mom loves you. And I thought killing each other wasn’t something New Directions did any more.”

“I’m reviving the tradition. I didn’t want people to know for a reason Kurt.”

“And Jake told for a reason. He seems to think people love you and would want to support you.” Kurt shrugged his shoulders.  “It seems very sweet to me.  And he’s smart enough to bring Blaine into it so you won’t stay mad for very long.”

“I can stay mad at Blaine.”

“You can not. But I find that’s a common problem.”  Kurt rested his chin on his hands.  “Now go get the dress so I can see it. Then we can figure out how furious to be with Jake Puckerman.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hi Tina!” Matt said cheerfully before he slowly took a step back.  “Everything ok?”

“Fine. Perfect.” Tina narrowed her eyes in his direction.  “Do you know?”  It was one thing if Jake had told Blaine and then her parents but if he told everyone else?  

“Do I know about what?”  Matt’s gaze flickered briefly and she could see his pupils widen in panic.  

“You know. He told you. Jake told you.”

“Well if you want to get technical about it Artie told me not Jake. But it’s not big deal. It’s sounds fun.  I’ll totally be there to cheer you on. I think Ryder and Kitty are working on an actual cheer.  I heard it involves flips”

“Not the point.  Where is he?”

“Am I going to have to pretend I never saw you when the cops come?”

“Probably.”

“Then I didn’t tell you he’s in the last studio on the left.”  Matt moved towards the door.  “Just go easy on him T. He meant well.   And everyone is really excited to see you.  I haven’t heard Kitty make one joke about it.”

“Kitty?”  Tina cocked her head to the side.

“Ok. One joke. She’s made one joke but she’s totally behind you on it.”

“If you don’t want to be questioned by the police I suggest you leave now.”

“Message received.” Matt held his hands up in the air. “I’m going. Just remember my car can’t hold a dead body and neither can yours.”

Tina made a face at Matt’s joke and turned to go down the hall. The closer she got, the more she could make out the sounds of Ne Yo from behind one of the closed doors.  Jake must still be practicing. Good. She needed him distracted for the element of surprise.

The knob twisted easily under her hand.  Of course he left it unlocked, she reasoned, he thought he was the only one in the studio.  She pushed opened the door, fully ready to let him have it.

Not hearing the door open, Jake lept into an impressive pirouette and then another.  Clearly he had been practicing long enough to toss his shirt off into the corner to her left.  Tina told herself the reason she kept her eyes on him had everything to do with making sure she could confront him as soon as he noticed her and nothing to do with his sweaty abs.

Twisting to go into another leap, Jake spotted her and stopped abruptly. “Tina?” He asked confused as he went to shut off the music, grabbing a towel to wipe his face.  “Did we decide to meet and I forgot?”

Tina shook her head, angry at herself for not getting the first word.  Curse his stupid distracting abs.  “No. I want to know why Kurt called me in a panic about my dress.”

“I barely know the guy. I don’t know why he would call you about anything much less a dress.  Wedding plans?”

“Wedding plans? Try pageant plans.”  Tina moved closer and could see Jake’s shoulders (his bare sweaty shoulders) tense as she continued to speak.  “Somehow he knew I had a pageant dress and felt that a Puckerman’s taste could not be trusted.”

“Look...Tina….”

“You told.” Tina punched him in his arm.  “I told you I didn’t want anyone to know and apparently everyone knows now.  I didn’t want them to know for reasons Jake. I told you that.”

“And I told you I thought you were nuts.  You’re going to be amazing in that pageant and everyone wants to cheer you on.  What is the problem with that?”

“What’s the problem? What’s the problem?”  Tina threw up her hands.  “Could you put on your shirt?  You’re being very attractive and distracting right now and it’s making it hard for me to stay mad at you.”

Jake lifted  his eyebrows and smiled, making no move to retrieve his shirt from the corner.  “Attractive and distracting huh?”

“Please. You’re a Puckerman. Don’t even act like that news is surprising to you.”

“Well maybe I don’t want you mad at me.” Jake took a step closer to her, smiling even more.

“Don’t make me punch you again. I’ll do it.” Tina point out, taking a step back.  “You gave your word and you broke it. I’m mad at you.”

“And I’m sorry even if I think I’m right.” Jake stopped in front of her.  “How do I make it up to you?”

A flood of ideas came to Tina’s mind.  None of them she wanted to say out loud because she and Jake were friends.   _Just_ friends.  And the sudden heat between them was nothing more than the result of hormones and the fact the closest she had to action all year was dancing with Blaine at the Sadie Hawkins Dance.  That was the only reason why the idea of telling him to shut the hell up and kiss her was so damn tempting.

“I’ll let you know.” She wasn’t entirely sure why her voice had dropped to a whisper. (And she wasn’t going to think about why she couldn’t look away from his lips.) But if she repeated herself in a louder voice, she knew she would only call attention to it and make it weird.

“You do that.”

 


	22. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> St. Rita Fest is a real thing. And I’m pretty convinced Haverbrook is based on at least somewhat on St. Rita School for the Deaf in Cincinnati. And no I totally haven’t scoured their website looking for a mention of a choir. Why do you ask? http://www.srsdeaf.org/StRitaFest.aspx

“Forget it. I’m going to cancel.” Marley groaned as she threw herself dramatically on her bed. “I can’t do this. I’m not ready.”

Kitty rolled her eyes, unphased by Marley’s theatrics.  “It’s a first date. Not the solution to world peace.  Quit being all Tina about it.”

Tina started to protest but decided against it. She tossed a pair of jeans in Marley’s direction.  “And you’re going to St. Rita Fest not Breadstix.  The dress code is cute but comfortable. You’re going to be outside all day”

Unique nodded, not even looking up from the magazine she was flipping through. “Your new flower top we bought at the mall last week.  Adorable without being too much. Flirty but not too flirty.”

Tina searched through Marley’s closet and found the yellow sleeveless blouse with tiny flowers over it and a price tag still hanging off it.  Holding it up for Unique’s confirmation, Tina took a long look at it.  “Yes.  This is perfect.  Go change.  Matt and Artie will be here any minute.”

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous.” Marley sighed as she grabbed the blouse from Tina and made her way to the hall bathroom to change, leaving the door to her bedroom open.  

“Because it’s your real first date since Jake.” Unique said simply as she studied a hair style.  “Tina, look at this.  This would make you look like a queen and I can totally figure this out by the time of your inevitable coronation.”

“It is not my first date since Jake.” Marley’s muffled voice came through the closed bathroom door.

“Ryder doesn’t count.” Kitty and Tina yelled back in unison.  Unique nodded as Tina studied the picture she was pointing to.

“We totally went on a date.  It does count.”

“One Ryder never counts unless you’re Unique and we all know it.” Kitty argued, ignoring the dirty look Unique shot her way.  “Two you only said yes to Ryder because he asked you out in front of Jake and you wanted to make him suffer.”

“That’s not true.” Marley protested as she came back into the room, tucking her shirt into the waistband of her jeans.

“Yes it was and I was never more proud of you.” Kitty countered as she stood up and swatted Marley’s hands away.  “Leave it out. Less nerdy.”

“Seriously.  That was a move straight out of One Tree Hill.  It was fantastic to watch.”  Tina agreed.  “Kitty’s right. Leave it out. She knows from nerdy. Look who she’s dating.”

“You look adorable.” Unique said kindly with a smile.  “You’ll be fine once you’re on the way there.  And if it’s awkward Kitty and Artie will be there as buffers.”

“You can thank Arthur’s twisted logic that this is also a way to thank Haverbrook for that.” Kitty shrugged. “But it should be fun. Besides you and Matt can help me stop Arthur from trying out weird instrumental music for his film scores on me.”

Pressing her hands against her stomach, Marley took a deep breath and exhaled while smoothing out the fabric of her blouse.  The closer it got to her date with Matt, the more she really wanted it to work out.  She never ever going to admit but Kitty was right. Her one date with Ryder was more about proving to Jake they were done than anything else.  And unlike when she started with Jake, everyone was telling her that  Matt was a good guy.  He hadn’t even acted put off when Artie had heard his idea about going down to Cincinnati for St. Rita Fest and  invited himself and Kitty along.  That had to be a good sign.

Or maybe it was a sign he had changed his mind about her and was too nice to back out of it.  Marley chewed her bottom lip.  Dating was far too stressful.  Maybe she should revisit her idea about modeling her life after Anne of Green Gables.  

The sound of a car engine turning into her driveway made Marley widen her eyes.  Kitty gathered up her things into the bag she had thrown across Marley’s bed while Tina and Unique tried to be subtle about looking out the window.

“Preppy but nice.” Unique announced in satisfaction.  “You two will look adorable. Kitty you’ll need to send lots of pictures.”

“Documentation costs extra in my surveillance.  You already know this.”

The doorbell sounded and Marley took in a breath to calm her nerves.  This was it.  She grabbed Tina’s hands and squeezed.  “Ok I can do this.”

“Of course you can. It’s a date not negotiating world peace.” Kitty shrugged.  “And while I think a little waiting never hurt anyone, I have a feeling if we leave Matt and your mom down there too long she’ll be baking your wedding cake by the time we leave the driveway.”

“You two have a good time.” Tina smiled as she started to gather her own things.  “Text me when you get back.”

“What are you guys doing today? Do you want to come with us?” Marley offered.

“Honey I know you don’t think I want to be the third wheel.  I am far too good for that. No. Miss Tina and I will be auditioning hairstyles that work best with tiaras.  I’m even allowing her to borrow from my collection for the time being.”

“It’s the true test of friendship.” Tina nodded seriously.

“Marley I swear if you don’t stop stalling I will spend the entire drive down there telling Matt every dorky thing you ever did in the choir room.”

“Matt dressed as a member of Kiss. I don’t think that would scare him off.” Tina pointed out.

“We need to start dating out of that damn choir room.” Kitty shook her head and pulled Marley towards her. “Come on. I was promised turtle soup and I’m not missing it because of you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By the time they had arrived at the festival, Marley found her nerves had calmed down.  It was hard to be nervous when Kitty and Artie kept drawing both her and Matt into their debate on the best comic book movie adaptation.  And Matt had helped defend her when the other couple had looked horrified when she admitted she hadn’t read any of the comics the movies were based on so she really couldn’t say.  Thankfully Kitty had immediately directed Artie towards the poker games which had stopped Artie’s lecture on which comics she needed to read immediately before school started.

Looking around she let out a low whistle.  “This is a school festival?” she asked incredulously as she took in the expansive collection of booths that dotted the school soccer field.  Behind the far goals, a large Ferris wheel towered above a collection of rides.

Matt smiled. “It’s one of the big fundraisers for the school. My grandparents lived nearby so they used to take me here every summer.  So what’s the plan? Do we eat first? Hit the games?  Rides?”

Marley twisted her pinkie in her hand.  “Maybe….take a lap and see what’s all here and see where all the best prizes are?”

“I like the way you think.” Matt nodded pointing in the direction Artie and Kitty had darted to.  “I’m pretty sure that’s the poker related area so if you have any card shark skills let me know.”

“No. We’ll have to team up with Kitty for that.”

“Got it. But I have an important question for you.”

“Okay…..” Marley answered slowly.

“Darts or ring toss?”

Marley giggled, the last of her nerves escaping her.  This was going to be fun and even if nothing further happened between her and Matt this was still going to be a good day.  “The answer is going to depend on which has the better stuffed animals.”

Matt nodded, smiling widely.  “Fair enough.  I do think I should let you know that I’m pretty awesome at pop toss so we’re going to have to stop at that booth.”

“Ok but I should tell you Kitty thinks of herself as the queen of pop toss so if she sees us there?  She’s going to challenge you to a competition and we’ll be there all day.”

Matt glanced back towards the poker area.  “So we should go find that now before they find us and you dump me for Artie?”

“Exactly.” Marley laughed and Matt offered his arm for their walk through the midway.  She looped her arm through his and tilted her head towards the crowds of people milling around the booths.  “You’re the expert here.  Let’s go.”

“Usually it’s down by the rides because it’s considered a kids game but I promise you it takes massive amounts of skill.”

“Come on.  Let me see you put your money where your mouth is Pop Toss King.”

****  
  
  
  
  
  



	23. Chapter 22

“How could you miss him?” Ryder complained as he furiously pushed the buttons on the game console.  “It’s not like Blaine is that good at this game.”

“Hey! I am too!” Blaine protested through the headset.

“Dude you apologized before you shot him.” Sam’s voice crackled to life.  “We’ve been over that.”

“Blaine can be surprisingly sneaky. When he’s not telling Kurt everything” Jake defended himself as he elbowed Ryder in his side.  “Your left.”

Ryder nodded quickly, aiming at Sam’s avatar in the top corner.   He and Jake exchanged brief high fives as Sam groaned at being caught.

“I don’t tell Kurt everything. He came home and overheard me talking to Tina’s parents.”

“And you’re telling me you don’t have every second of Kurt’s schedule memorized?”  Jake raised his eyebrow as he tried to concentrate on finding where Sam was hiding now.  Ryder began stalking Blaine onscreen.  “You had it memorized when you were here and he was in New York.”

“He’s got a point.” Sam and Ryder agreed simultaneously.

“I’m sorry Kurt told Tina but really that was out of my control.  And it’ not like Tina is actually still mad at you.”

“I think you are confusing me with yourself there Blaine.” Jake jumped up, pushing the buttons furiously. “Your ass is mine Evans.”

“I don’t think so. Everyone know if I swung that way it would be Blaine’s.” Sam started to return fire as Ryder and Blaine joined in the on-screen fight. “Prepare to die Puckerman.”

“Besides Blaine’s right.” Ryder picked the conversation up again without missing a beat, concentrating on firing on Blaine while Jake took on Sam.  “Tina’s not pissed at you.  She barely even yelled at you.”

“She yelled. Watch out he’s coming in high.”

“I see him. I see him.” Ryder complained but he lowered his stance anyway.  “And no she didn’t.  When Tina yells everyone can hear it.  For weeks.  She gave Matt the stink eye and then nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing.” Jake protested as he ducked for cover under Sam’s assault.  

“By Tina standards it was nothing.” Ryder countered.  “She yelled at me more that time I _accidentally_ took her yogurt off her tray.”

“Man that was one long week.” Sam sighed. “You can’t hide forever Puckerman.  Blam will be victorious!”

“Tina’s not mad at you.  She told me herself.”  Blaine said calmly right before Ryder landed a shot.  “How do you always manage to do that?”

“I’ll never tell my secrets!” Ryder crowed as he and Jake began to both concentrate on Sam.  

“You keep getting dizzy and forget which one is him. That’s how.” Sam answered matter of factly. “But watch me take them both out now.”

“Not if I can help it sucker.” Ryder crowed, jumping up and down on the sofa.  Jake would have told Ryder to cool it with the jumping but he was pretty sure his friend’s dad was used to it by now.  

“Look Jake Tina told me herself. She was a little upset when Kurt told her he knew but she gets it.  I didn’t even have to talk her around to seeing your side.  She’s totally not mad at you. “Blaine promised.

“Blaine didn’t have to talk her into being reasonable? Dude.” Ryder whistled low without taking his eyes off the screen.  “She must like you or something.”

“Seriously.” Sam agreed.  “Tina only lets people she likes off the hook.”

Jake shook his head as he maneuvered out of Sam’s shooting range.  “You’re both nuts.  I mean Tina’s hot and all but no….she didn’t let me off the hook because she likes me.”

“I’m sorry since when do you think Tina’s hot?” Ryder questioned as he crept behind Sam preparing to take the winning shot.

“Please you flirted with her more in glee than Blaine did.”

“I didn’t flirt with Tina.  She’s my friend.” Blaine protested.  “But as her friend I do need to talk more about you finding her hot.”

“You all have eyes. I’m just stating the facts.”

“You stating the facts about a girl being hot generally leads to you making out with her.” Ryder scoffed as he steadied his aim.  Sam began to curse as the shot landed perfectly. “YES! I AM VICTORIOUS!!!”

“We are never telling Artie this.” Sam said to Blaine. “He will never let us live it down.”

“Oh we’re telling him.” Ryder disagreed.  “I’m telling everyone about my mad skills.”

Jake looked down at his watch. He had promised his mom he would be back before she left for the dinner shift at the country club.  “Look guys I need to go.”

“Secret make out session with Tina?” Sam guessed.

“No.”  Jake could feel his face flush and figured it was best to ignore the look Ryder was giving him.  After all Ryder couldn’t admit he was dating Unique so he was the last person to have any say on what was or wasn’t going on in another person’s love life.  And there was nothing happening in Jake’s right now.  “I have to meet my mom.”

“Come on dude.  I know Tina’s older than you but she’s not old enough to be your mom.” Sam pointed out. “Unless that’s some weird sex thing between the two of you then I don’t want to know.”

“Same.” Ryder and Blaine called out.  Jake was pretty sure he could hear Blaine gagging in New York.  

“There is no weird sex thing between me and Tina. She’s a friend that I happen to find hot but there’s nothing going on.”

“Sure there’s not. Go and see your _mom_.”   Ryder teased shoving Jake’s shoulder.

“You’re all crazy.” Jake pulled the ear piece off, waving goodbye to Ryder as he left.  He’d have to cut through the park in order to make to his house on time. Not having a car sometimes severely sucked.  

Jake took off in a jog towards the park.  He had just entered it when he felt his phone buzz in his pants pocket.  Figuring it was his mom wondering where he was, he slowed down to read the text.  He was more than a little surprised to see a message from Blaine

_If you like Tina ask her out.  But after the pageant. She’ll think you’re a distraction and blame her performance on you if she doesn’t win.  For what it’s worth I think you’d be cute together._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I’d ask how the date is going…” Kitty drawled as she looked over the collection of prizes Marley had spread out over the table.  “But it looks like you robbed a toy store and I’m concerned we’re about to be arrested.”

Marley glanced over to where Matt and Artie were weaving their way through the crowd to throw away their trash from dinner.  “It’s been fun.”  She held up a small pink stuffed kitten.  “Look.  He won this for me at the dart game. I won him the penguin.”

“Winning each other stuffed animals? That’s like what third base for you?”

“Kitty.”  Marley dropped the kitten on the table and leaned closer to her friend. “He’s been really great.  And sweet.  And nice. And I think….I think I might really like him.”

“Well good because I’m told this dating thing works better when you really like someone.” Kitty teased.  

“We’re going to go on the Ferris Wheel after this.  You guys want to come with?”

“Arthur and I already made out there.  We may have been asked to not come back.” Kitty smiled proudly.  “You guys go. We’ll watch the loot for you.”

“Why are we watching their loot?” Artie asked as both he and Matt returned to the table.

“Because they are going to ride the Ferris Wheel and we were asked to not return to the rides area completely.”

“I don’t even want to know how you managed that.” Matt laughed.

Artie shrugged. “What can I say? My girl is hot and I don’t mind showing her how hot I find her.”

“Ok that’s pretty close to details I don’t want to know.” Matt offered his hand out to Marley to help her stand up.  “Shall we?”

Smiling Marley put her hand in his and stood up. “We’ll meet you guys here?”

“Sounds good.” Kitty nodded. “There’s some ice cream over there with my name on it.”

Waving goodbye, Marley turned to follow Matt out of the food tent and down the midway towards the rides.  A local cover band was on the stage set up near the entrance to the rides area, starting their set with _Shout_.  They swung their still clutched hands between them to the beat of the song.

“You know I still haven’t heard you sing.” Matt pointed out.

“I could say the same about you.”

“Oh see Mr. Schue needed me in glee to dance, not sing.  And you’ve seen me dance.”

 

“Well we’ll see how the rest of tonight goes and then we’ll talk about you hearing me sing.”

“I guess this ride will have to be pretty spectacular then.” Matt teased as they came to the end of the short line to the Ferris Wheel.  As she nodded, Matt handed the only slightly sketchy looking worker the ride tickets they had purchased before meeting Kitty and Artie for dinner.

A yellow car stopped at the bottom and Marley smiled as they sat down lowering the safety bar with them.  She could feel herself blush as Matt rested his arm around her shoulder as the car slowly started to rise.  The sun was just starting to set and the lights that dotted the fairgrounds were starting to blink on.  “It’s so pretty up here.” she breathed out happily.

“I don’t know. I think it’s prettier in this car.” Marley turned to look at him, her eyebrow raised. Matt shrugged and laughed.  “Artie suggested I use that line.”

“Never listen to him. Ever.”

“Believe I don’t plan on it.”  Their eyes locked as the car stopped at the very top of the wheel.  Matt leaned in a little closer to her and Marley felt her breath catch.  “But you are very pretty.”

Her voice lowered to a whisper as she felt herself lean in closer.  “Thank you.”

They both drifted closer together, the soft sounds of the band playing Take My Breath Away rising in the air.  The car rocked forward and their lips pressed together in soft, sweet kiss.  The ride starting to move pulled them apart. Marley chewed her bottom lip and looked down to see the lights of the nearby Tilt-A-Whirl turn on.

Matt scratched the back of his head.  “So how this ride shaping up?”

She looked over at him and smiled. “Maybe getting a little closer to spectacular.”

 


	24. Chapter 23

“What good are you as a best friend if you don’t answer your phone when I call?” Tina complained when Blaine _finally_ returned her call.  “I told you this was urgent!”

“So you said.  In all 13 of your messages.” Blaine pointed out dryly.  “I was working Tina. I couldn’t answer my phone.”

“If it was Kurt calling to tell you he had booked the glitter shitting doves for the wedding you’d have answered your phone.”

“Did he tell you something? Because we talked about that.”  

“Oh relax.  He’s not mentioned glitter shitting doves since McKinley.  And you two are aware you haven’t even set a date yet right?”

“There is nothing wrong with being prepared Tina.”

“You are completely crazy.” Tina sighed as she flopped back on her bed.  “You do realize this right?”

“You’re the one who called me 13 times with something urgent.” Blaine pointed out.  “So what does that say about you? What’s going on T?”

Tina huffed out a sigh and pushed her hair off her neck.  “Ok so I think I just found out some news that is _MAJOR_. But if I share it then I’m going to hurt people I really care about.”

“Then don’t tell.” Blaine said simply.

“But if I don’t tell, then someone I care about could be hurting and I can’t do anything about it.”  Tina knew she was whining but really it was necessary.  “Blainey Days please.  I’m dying here.”

“On a scale of one to ten how much am I not going to want to know this?” Blaine asked with a sigh.  She could almost see him rubbing the bridge of his nose in defeat.

“Probably a nine.  But once I tell you what it is, you’ll totally understand.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_“Ok I thought the entire point of everyone else knowing was for me to no longer be the only person you came to about this.”  Jake whispered in her ear, gesturing to the stage where Debbie Sue Johnson was singing about high hopes.  It may not be her actual name but that was what Tina was going to call her.  Everyone here went by three names.  Tina has considered using her middle name as well before she figured making an entire audience sit through Tina Yun Hee Cohen-Chang would probably kill her chances to win before she even stepped on stage._

_“No that was your point for telling everyone.  And as part of the whole earning my forgiveness for ignoring my very clear and very specific request for you not to tell anyone, you’re here helping me size up the competition so I don’t go down to a second rate Gracie Lou Freebush.”_

__

_Jake shot her a look and pointed to the girl on the stage. “That’s Stacy.  She’s on the Cheerios. You know that’s not her name.”_

__

_“Nope. Pageant rules. Everyone immediately goes by their full name.  That’s Gracie Lou Freebush.  And before her was Debbie Sue Johnson.  And after her is Buffy Muffy Wetherton.”_

__

_Jake rested his elbow on the armrest, causing their arms to press together as he leaned closer to her.  Chewing her lip, Tina glanced down at their arms before lifting her eyes to lock with Jake’s.  She felt herself take in a quick breath and darted her tongue out to lick her lips as she noticed Jake do the same.  Two things floated to her mind.  One - the skin on Jake’s arm was  incredibly soft.  She had to be imagining it.  Two - Was the last guy she kissed really Sam during that lock in with Blaine?  That was months ago.  She really needed to get on fixing that situation. Although she should probably listen to what Jake was whispering to her first._

__

_Tucking an errant piece of hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear, Jake touched the tip of her nose lightly.  “And who exactly would that make you? Tina Lou Cohen-Chang?”_

__

_“I’m just Tina. Like Beyonce.  It will help me stand out.”_

__

_“So you’re refusing to go along with the rules? A bad girl?”_

__

_“Wouldn’t you like to know.”_

__

_“I didn’t think it was possible for your standard to get any lower after Marley but apparently I was wrong.” Bree announced coolly as she sat down in front of them, startling out of their bubble and back into the real world.  “Really? The Slushie Queen?”_

__

_“Shouldn’t someone be dumping a bucket of water over you to make you melt?” Tina shot back, determined not to show Bree any emotion. She could handle this. She had been in glee club with Santana for the love of everything.  She had graduated from McKinley.  She could handle this._

__

_“Leave Tina out of this.” Jake said gruffly.  “This is between you and me and I already told you. I’m not playing your games.”_

__

_“And I told you. You don’t tell me what to do.” Bree flipped her ponytail behind her and turned to Tina, a wicked smile on her lips.  “Look even you can do better than him.  He’s not that good.”_

__

_“We’re just friends.” Tina pointed out, feeling the discomfort radiating off of Jake._

__

_“Oh please.” Bree rolled her eyes. “I recognize that lame Jake Puckerman style of seduction anywhere.  Word of advice, no matter what he tells you under the bleachers is not private.”_

__

_“That’s it.  I’m leaving.” Jake stood up, clapping his hands.  “Tina I’ll call you later. Bree find a house to fall on you.”_

__

_“Something I said?” Bree asked with her best innocent voice._

__

_“You’d be better off trying this stuff on someone who doesn’t know you.” Tina said sweetly as she stood up.  “Jake and Marley are my friends remember? And Kitty told me what you did at prom.”_

__

_Unphased Bree pulled a card out from her purse.  “And I told you. I recognize Jake in seduction mode.” She pressed the card into Tina’s hand.  “Trust me. Sooner or later you’ll need this if you keep up that lame flirting game with him.  A girl’s gotta watch out for her fellow sisters you know?”_

__

_Tina stared after her in confusion as Bree made her way towards the stage where Stacy Sue or whoever it was finishing up.  She flipped the card over and then stared after Bree again. Why did Bree have a business card for Planned Parenthood in her purse?_

__

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“She gave you a business card?” Blaine repeated.  “That’s what’s so urgent?”

“Blaine you don’t just _have_ those cards in your purse.  You get them for a reason.”

“And maybe Bree’s reason was to mess with your head?  She’s kind of good at that.”

“I don’t know. I just...got this feeling she was being weirdly sincere when she gave me the card?  Like it felt she was warning me about something.”

“Tina….just let it drop.  For all you know she was trying to help Stacy win the pageant. I am all for everyone expressing themselves as they see fit but she’s _really_ singing?  In public?”

“Blaine. Focus.”

“Come on Tina. You heard her that night we drove to Dayton for that competition.  She’s _singing_?”

“Blaine what am I supposed to do here?  What if she’s hinting about something to do with Jake and he’s hurting?  Am I supposed to just ignore that?”

“You spend more time with Jake than anyone these days. Or so I hear. Has he said anything?”

“No but you know Jake. He wouldn’t say anything if he was upset.  He never does.  I mean we just now got him to the point where he doesn’t run out of the entire building if Marley’s name happens to come up.  But if he is hurting and I have to dig to find out  cause you know I will then I have to talk to Bree.  And that will piss off Marley and Jake because you know Bree.”

“Or you can just ignore whatever it is that Bree was trying to do and tell me more about how often you find yourself flirting with Jake because I think that sounds way more interesting Miss Tina.”

“Wha...What? I am not flirting with Jake.” Tina sputtered as she sat up on her bed, her hair flying.  

“Maybe it’s different for girls but I know I don’t spend time with my friends looking at them and wondering how long it’s been since I kissed someone.  At least not ones I wasn’t flirting with or had a crush on.” Blaine teased.

“I….you…..you are crazy.  I think all this wedding planning with Kurt has officially fried your brain.  I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“You just need a place to put your love Tina. There’s nothing wrong with a crush.” Tina swore she could see the knowing smile on Blaine’s face.

“I’m hanging up on you. I come to you for some serious advice and you’re teasing me about something that doesn’t even exist.  I see what kind of friend you are Blaine Anderson.”

“I’m your best friend who knows you better than anyone.” Blaine pointed out.  “So I know for you to be this concerned about Jake you really do like him.  And I don’t think Bree actually meant anything by that card other than to freak you out and probably get you to run to Marley to cause more trouble for her.”

“But…”

“But if you think there is something to it talk to Jake.  If he wants to he’ll tell you. If not let it be Tina. You don’t want to lose your best chance to be kissed before the end of the summer because you pushed too hard.”

“I hate you.”  Tina pouted, hoping he could feel her glare through the phone.

“I love you too Queen T.  Now that your crisis is solved can I tell you about this plan Kurt has for the napkins.  Because it’s just not going to work.”

****  
  
  



	25. Chapter 24

“How are backpacks out already?” Artie complained as he and Kitty made their way towards the Bed, Bath and Beyond store that was at the other end of the Lima Mall.  He gestured towards the display window of the Gap they were currently in front of. “The Fourth of July was like yesterday!  It is not time to think about going back to school.”

“You do realize we’re going to look at stuff for _your_ apartment when you start film school right?” Kitty pointed out with a roll of her eyes.  

“ _Alleged_ apartment. Sam hasn’t even seen it yet.” Artie corrected, even if he did have to admit privately that what Sam described did seem like it would work.  Or at least it would work more than Sam’s backup plan of moving into an apartment his modeling agency leased and he would just sneak Tina and Artie in each night.  This place was an actual _real_ apartment.  One that was wheelchair accessible or at least Kurt’s boss at Vogue swore it was.  But still Artie wasn’t going to get his hopes up until Sam had least seen the place and Blaine video taped it for him and Tina to review.  

“Please.  So long as all three of you can fit in it and it works you know you’re going to take it.” Kitty fell in step behind his chair to avoid a roving pack of middle school girls.  She leaned down to whisper in his ear.  “Because we might have agreed to be friends at the end of the summer but if you think I’m going to be ok with you living with models?  You’re insane.”

“Come on. You know space for you to visit was always on the list of requirements.”   He didn’t like to think too much about their agreement.  Artie knew it made sense.  He knew there was a lot of logical reasons why they were doing the right thing.  It didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Which is why we need to go find things for this place that will be a dump of the highest order.” Kitty fell back instep next to him.  “And since I know all three of you, your collective taste is terrible.  I refuse to submit my eyes to whatever nerd inspired nightmare you’d come up with on your own. And don’t even try to tell me Kurt will help because I’ve seen pictures of that loft and _no_.”

“The loft looks fine.”

“The loft looks like a convention of hobos threw up in it.” Kitty waved her hand in the hair.  “Throw in your collection of awful movie posters and it would be a disaster.”

“My posters are not awful” Artie protested, swelling his chest up in indignation.  

“I don’t care that you framed it, a poster of _She’s All That_ is lame.”  

“You just don’t like my dedication to Rachel Leigh Cook’s entire career.”

“You watch _Perception_ which no one under my grandma’s age watches.” Kitty shook her head as they entered the store. “When you move I’m going to burn that poster. And your mom’s going to help because she likes me better than you.”

“She probably wants you to move in.” Artie grumbled as they stopped at the first back to the dorm display at the front of the store.  “What do people actually put in these?” he asked as he held up a garish neon green milk crate.  “It’s not big enough for anything useful. I could barely fit one of my cameras in here.”

He half expected Kitty to slap the ugly thing out of his hand.  He had picked it up half out of revulsion and half to tease her about her determination to make his place look nice. (Which he was grateful for but seriously it was just a little bit weird since the whole _let’s break up at the end of the summer_ thing was her idea) But instead she didn’t even have a comment.  Artie looked up to make sure she was still standing close by and hadn’t wandered off into the wedding registry section. (He knew it was irrational but he was friends with Blaine and Kurt. And before them Rachel and Finn thought it was a good idea to get married in high school.  A little paranoia was a good thing.)  

Kitty was still standing there but she wasn’t looking at him.  Or even in her direction. She was staring over at the other end of the store where the towels were.  Artie put down the milk crate and grabbed her hand.  “Kitty?  You still here?”

She jumped a little at the question and Artie didn’t miss the way she had paled.  “Kitty? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Kitty shook her head, looking at him before looking back across the store.  “I think….I just feel sick all of the sudden.  Can you take me home?  Probably should have listened to you about that corn dog.”

He knew she was lying.  He knew it.  But he also realized she really wanted to get out of here by the way her eyes kept darting all over the place.  Maybe if he took her home, Artie would get the full story. “Yeah come on.  You should know by now to always listen to me about corn dogs.”

“Next time. I promise.”  There was gratefulness in Kitty’s suddenly wet eyes as he started to make his way back to where they had parked.

What the hell had just happened?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You are terrible at this game.” Unique declared as she once again beat Ryder at Mario Kart.  “I don’t know why you insist we always play it. You never win.”

“I win sometimes.” Ryder protested as he dropped his controller.  

“When you play with the boys you win.” Unique scoffed as she leaned back on the couch.  “When we play I always destroy you.”

“Well then you’ll just have to make it up to me by coming to dinner with me tonight.” Ryder flopped back on the couch, his hair flopping in front of his eyes. Unique made a note to talk to him about getting a haircut soon.  If his hair got any longer he would start to look like a young Justin Beiber and that was no longer a good thing.  “My dad has some faculty thing tonight and it’s always boring.  Come with me and save me.”

“A tip?  If you want a lady to attend an event with you, you do not lead with how boring it is.”

“It _is_ boring.” Ryder insisted.  “But if you come with me it won’t be because you aren’t boring.”

“We have to work on your game Ryder Lynn. You will never get a girlfriend like that.” Unique shook her head in amusement.  “Won’t there be other pretty little faculty daughters at this party?”

“Well yeah that’s why it will be boring.” Ryder shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t want to talk with them. I want to talk with you.”

“Not that I’m saying yes but when is this glorious shindig?  Because if it’s tonight I may not have time to prepare for looking fabulous.”

“You always look fabulous.  And it’s at like 8 I think? You have plenty of time to do whatever it is girls do.” Ryder batted his eyes and gave his best pout causing her to giggle.  This boy, he really was ridiculous.

“Why do I put up with you Ryder Lynn?” Unique sighed as she started to stand up.  Marley was right. She was going to say yes and she really couldn’t say no to him.  This was not good.

“Because I let you beat me at Mario Kart.”  Ryder smiled brightly and Unique felt her heart flutter.  Oh this was not good. Not good at all.  “Come on. I’ll walk you out. Pick you up around 7:30?”

“Who said I was going?” She teased as they made their way to the front door. Who was she kidding?  She was already mentally going through her closet. She was totally going.  

“Oh please. You can’t resist me.” Ryder smiled as he opened the door. His smile fell as he saw someone on his front porch.  Puzzled, Unique turned to find a pale Kitty standing there.

“Kitty?” Unique asked softly. Kitty looked spooked.  “Are you ok?”

Kitty blinked as she noticed Unique for the first time.  “Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry. I was just looking for Ryder. I didn’t realize you were here.  I can just go. I don’t want to interrupt.”

“No. No. It’s fine. I was just leaving.” Unique insisted.  She looked between Ryder and Kitty, her confusion and concern growing. “Unless you want me to stay?”

Ryder and Kitty exchanged glances and seemed to come to an understanding.  Now Unique was even more confused. Since when did Kitty and Ryder have silent conversations? Ryder and Jake did that. She and Marley did that.  Kitty and Ryder did **not** do that.  

What in the name of all that is Beyonce is going on?

“Yeah. No I got this.” Ryder said confidently with a nod.  “I’ll call you later tonight ok?” he added as he pulled Kitty inside the door.

“Ok…..” Unique said slowly as she made her way outside.  Ryder didn’t shut the door in her face but he certainly didn’t do what he normally did, which was lean on the door until she was safely inside her car.   Instead he just offered her a wave and shut the door slowly behind her.

What the hell was that?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Artie’s fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop.  His half eaten cookie sat on the plate next to his cooling cup of coffee. If Kitty was going to cancel their date, then he could at least get some work done on his script.  He hadn’t been able to capture the correct essence of the main character’s struggle in the ending narration and there was no time like the present to figure it out.

“Arthur Abrams.”  Unique’s voice carried over the low level din of chatter from the other tables.  Artie looked up just in time to see Unique, Marley and Tina storming their way towards him.  He got a flash of another reboot of Charlie’s Angels coming to kick his ass.  He scrambled to save his document and close his laptop before one of them picked it up and threw it at him.

“What did you do to Kitty?”  Tina scowled at him as all three of them sat down, crossing their arms. Unique’s eyes were flinty and even Marley looked pissed.  If it had been directed at anyone else but him, Artie would be filming it for the awesome potential. As it was, he was terrified of getting out of here alive.

“I didn’t do anything to Kitty.”

“Then why did she show up on Ryder’s doorstep looking like death warmed over?” Unique asked crossing her arms across her chest.

“And why is she not responding to my texts?” Marley added for good measure, waving her phone in front of him.

Artie blinked in confusion. “She went to Ryder’s?  She told me she felt sick and I took her home.  She went to Ryder’s?”

Tina looked him up and down carefully before turning to the other girls.  “He’s telling the truth.  He’s a horrible liar.”

“Gee thanks.”

Marley shook her head.  “Something’s wrong.  Kitty’s showing up at Ryder’s. She’s not responding to my texts. Ryder is breaking a date with Unique…”

“It wasn’t a date.” Unique cut in.  “We had plans and he texted to say we’d do something another time.”

“It was a date.” Tina and Marley said in unison.

“I don’t know what’s going on.” Artie offered.  “We were fine and then she just wanted to go home.”

“She didn’t say anything?”  Marley asked.

“Nothing.  I know something’s going on but I have no idea what.”

“I just hope she’s ok.” Marley sighed in frustration.

“Well the good thing is she’s with Ryder.”Tina offered.  “And he reminds me of a puppy dog but he’s a protective puppy dog.  And he’s not subtle so if it’s something he thinks we need to know, he’ll start dropping hints.”

“I just wish I knew what spooked her in the store.” Artie sighed.  

“Well when she’s ready to tell I think she’ll tell you first.” Marley offered, Unique nodding in agreement.  “I guess we just have to wait.”


	26. Chapter 25

As she pushed through the crowd barely avoiding getting yet another drink spilled on her, Tina wondered yet again why she thought this was a good idea.  She had initially thought about inviting Unique, Marley and Kitty to drive down to Dayton with her to check out the new teen club and making a girls night out. But Kitty was still avoiding everyone but Ryder, which was just confusing.  Marley and Matt had their second date this week and Unique was going over to Marley’s for “wardrobe consultation” before going to meet Artie to try to figure out what was going on with Ryder and Kitty.  She had briefly considered asking Jake to come along with her but outside of their regular scheduled rehearsal she hadn’t seen much of him this week.  The studio was doing an end of summer recital and both Matt and Jake were deep in preparation with their classes.  

So it was either go alone or miss out. And Tina was tired of missing out.

It had been far too long since she had gone out and just had some fun. She was an independent single woman who could do this on her own.  She was smart. She could be safe.  Ok  fighting through the crowd to get to the bar area was annoying but she had worn her best ass kicking boots (that perfectly matched her leather skirt) for a reason.  And she couldn’t deny that it would be nice to at least flirt with a guy from across the room.   Or flirt with a guy that she didn’t already know.

This flirting thing with Jake was driving her insane.  It wasn’t going to go anywhere. She knew that.  She was leaving town soon and flirting was as natural response as breathing was to a Puckerman.  But Tina couldn’t deny that some part of her, some part that she really needed to just ignore because it clearly wasn’t going to happen, _really really_ wanted something to happen. Jake was really sweet when he wasn’t trying to live up to some reputation.  And Tina wasn’t blind.  She knew exactly how attractive he was.  Especially when he was all sweaty from hours of helping her dance…..

Shaking her head to clear it of the distracting image, Tina finally made it to the bar.  She was going to get a drink and then attempt to do a lap around the dance floor. With any luck, she’d catch the eye of a guy on the floor and end up dancing the rest of the night away.

For a bar serving non-alcoholic drinks, it was crowded.  Tina attempted to catch the eye of the bartender and rolled her eyes when the tall Barbie looking blonde caught his eye first.  She resigned herself to wait, leaning forward on the bar resting on her elbows, letting the pounding bass wash over her.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing over here on your own?” A voice whispered in ear.  

Tina spun around, a sarcastic response ready on her lips.  Seeing Jake’s smiling face and the retort died.  “Is that some lame line your brother taught you?”

“Hey I taught my brother a thing or two I’ll have you know.” Jake leaned against the bar next to her.  

“That’s a terrifying thought.” Tina teased.  “What are you even doing here?”

“I ran into some of the guys on the basketball team and they invited me.” Jake shrugged.  “This a girls night out for you? Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re back home.” Tina shrugged her shoulders.  “Wasn’t the right time for everyone. But now I get to play older experienced club goer when we come back.”

“So you’re here by yourself?” Jake raised his eyebrow.

“If you say a single syllable about how I shouldn’t be here by myself because I need someone to protect me I will dump my drink over your head.”

“You don’t have a drink.”

“Fine.  I’ll come over every time you start your obvious moves on a girl and tell them I’m your crazy girlfriend. I will be the worst wingman ever.  Worse than Artie.”

“Ok one I was only going to suggest we hang out together.  Steve’s ok but our conversations pretty much begin and end with basketball. We ran out of things to say by the time we got here.  Second my moves are not obvious. I’ve had moves you’ve never seen.”

“What the patented Puckerman seduction technique of singing to a girl with a guitar? Do you at least not connect everything to your Judaism?”

“Half Jewish.  So I only do that half the time.”   Jake nodded in the direction of the bartender, holding up his glass and two fingers.  Tina reached to get her money, tucked with her ID under her bra strap but Jake slapped her hand down.  “Don’t even think about it.  This one’s on me.”

Tina took a sip from the glass in front of her, lukewarm soda sliding down her throat. “I’m going to pay you back.”

“You already are.” Jake leaned closer to her, so close she could smell the cologne he had on.  “See I’m standing next to the hottest girl in this club and she hasn’t told me to get lost.  That’s upped my game by about twenty points.”

Suddenly glad for the low lighting of the club, Tina felt herself blush.  “That would also mean you are blocking my game.” She pointed out in a whisper.  They were still so close talking any louder seemed ridiculous. And when did the air conditioning get turned off?  The air was at least twenty degrees hotter than when she walked in.

“Not with the way you look.” Jake’s eyes looked her up and down, taking in the leather skirt, pink mesh shirt and camisole and boots.  “You should wear this at the pageant.”

“I’ll tell Kurt you said that.” Tina laughed.  “Now if you’ll excuse me I didn’t go to all this trouble to just stand by the bar.” She gestured towards her outfit.  “I’m going to find someone to dance with.”

“Well you can stop looking.” Jake took her glass from her hand, placing it and his own glass on the bar.  “I’ll show my moves.”

Tina giggled as Jake pulled her out to the center of the dance floor and she recognized _Closer_ by Tegan and Sara playing.  Their shared year of glee club meant she could read when Jake was about to move and in what direction. Performing this song together meant she had some idea of what he wanted to do.  She matched him spin for spin, following when he took the lead and playing coy when she wanted him to follow her.  If she looked him in the eyes and sang along to the lyrics _All you think of lately is getting underneath me/ All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me_ while beckoning for him to come closer to her with her finger then it was all part of the performance.  

And when he spun her around and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her back against his chest, she most certainly did not close her eyes and take in a shallow breath.  Nor did she notice the way his breath tickled the back of her neck.  It was no different than the hundreds of other times they had danced together for glee practice.  Except for the blistering hot club (Seriously was there no air conditioner in this place? Tina wondered. It had to be like a thousand degrees.)  and the fact she was for all practical purposes plastered against his chest.  

“We’re going to go a little old school on you all.” The DJ announced as the song ended.  The familiar beat of _Try Again_ started.  Tina expected Jake to release his hold on her hands, give her a wink and then find someone else to dance with. Instead he spun her around so their noses were within millimeters of touching, dropping his hands to her waist.  

Following his lead, Tina wrapped one arm around his waist, her hips following his every motion.  Her eyes fixated on the tendons in his neck as Jake’s hands began to move up and down her sides tickling her with feather light touches.  She let out a shaky breath as she moved closer to him, pulling his light blue tshirt tight in her hand.  

“Jake” she whispered, her voice far more husky than she remembered it being earlier in the night.

Jake turned his head, his hand stopping just under her breasts.  Her eyes never left his lips as his tongue darted out to wet them.  Later she could blame the heat, the music or the fact he smelled so fucking good.  Right now all she could think about was pulling him to her and feeling those lips against her own.

And with a firm yank on his tshirt, she did just that. Jake responded to her kiss so quickly it was almost as if he had been the one to start it.  His hands splayed against her side anchored to the ground as their lips moved over each other. The kisses deepened and Tina felt herself being pulled even closer to Jake.  

She opened her mouth to let his tongue slipped past her lips, chasing the sweet taste of soda that lingered there.   As their tongues danced Tina felt Jake’s hands move lower, one slipping underneath her mesh shirt.  When his hand managed to pull her camisole free and she felt his fingers on her back, she let out a gasp. In slow motion she started to hear the bass of the song and hear the low rumble of chatter around here.  She could even sense the eyes of the other club goers on them.  With a soft kiss she took a small step back.

Jake’s shirt was a wrinkled mess from where her hand had clutched like a lifeline.  He was breathing harder than she had ever seen him breath, even after a long dance practice.  And he was looking at her like she was the air he needed to breathe right now.

She had just kissed Jake Puckerman.  She had just made out with Jake in the middle of the dance floor.  And she had loved every second of it.  

“Tina?” Jake questioned.  “Look that….”

Tina put her finger up to his lip to stop him.  There were so many ways this could go wrong. But right now she didn’t care.  She just wanted that feeling again.  “Did you drive here?”

Jake blinked, confused by her question.  “No…..”

“Then text your friend and tell him you found another way home.  We’re going to my car.”


	27. Chapter 26

“Sorry I’m late. I know you’ve got that karoake thing with everyone tonight.” Blaine rushed out his apology as his face came into view on the Skype screen.  Tina smiled as he was leaning down to grab the pictures he had taken of his and Sam’s trip to FAO Schwartz where Kurt had assured that naturally they had all played the famous floor piano. He straightened up and she could see the pictures in his hand fall to the ground. “Tina Cohen-Chang!  You have a  hickey!”

TIna hid her face in her hands as she heard Sam echo back Blaine’s exclamation and scurry across the loft.  “Why can’t you live in a place with walls?  And sound proofing?”

“Because the poor starving artists can’t afford them.  All the movies tell you that.” Sam answered helpfully as he shoved Blaine over so he could see.  Sam let out a low whistle. “Damn girl.  Who tried to eat your neck?”  His eyes opened comically wide.  “Are you really a vampire princess?  Is your dad forcing an arranged marriage on you for the sake of the kingdom?”

“No.” Tina said slowly as Blaine nudged Sam in the side and shook his head no. Her fingers moved to the side of her neck.  “And it’s not that bad. Is it?”

Blaine immediately said “No” in his best reassuring voice while at the same time Sam said “Only if you can’t see.”

“Ugh.” Tina groaned.  “Why am I even friends with you two?”

“Because you fell in love with Blaine and he and I are a packaged deal.” Sam shrugged.  “Although it looks like you got over the whole gay guy thing.  Or was it a girl? Cause you know I’m totally cool with that.”

Tina rolled her eyes.  “Sam.”

“Right. Sorry.  So what happened?  But not too many details.  You’re like my sister that I once made out with.”

Tina and Blaine both stared at Sam for a long minute before Blaine finally shook his head.  “We’re going to work on phrasing that better. But only share if you want to Tina.”

Tapping her fingers against her thigh Tina considered telling them it wasn’t any of their business.  They’d let it drop but she knew them.  Eventually curiosity would get the better of them and they would start asking questions.  Questions she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted asked.  Or wanted people knowing the answers to just yet. At least not until she had a chance to figure it out for herself.  If she just _told_ them…….

Well once they completed completely humiliating her, there was the chance they would actually give her some good advice.  Or advice at any rate.

“ _ **IF**_ I tell you. And I do mean if, you both have to swear on everything you hold dear to not tell anyone.  And I mean swearing on Kurt’s life and not telling Kurt, Blaine.”  She pointed a finger towards Sam. “And the same goes for you and Mercedes, Sam. “

In the loft, Sam and Blaine had a conversation composed entirely of raised eyebrows.  After both of them nodded, they both turned back to her.  “Ok. We swear.” Blaine answered while they both held up their fingers in what she assumed was the Boy Scout promise.  

“And you can’t judge me.” Tina added quickly waiting for them to nod before closing her eyes.  “I went to that new teen club I was telling you about and…..” Tina took a deep breath. “ _JakeandImighthavemadeoutinthemiddleofthedancefloorandthenhookedupafterweleft_.” she let out in a rush.

She opened one eye to see Blaine blinking at her in confusion and Sam’s mouth dropped open.  “Guys?”

“I’m sorry did you say you hooked up with Jake? Jake Puckerman Jake?” Blaine asked slowly.

“And when you say hook up do you mean like you and I hooked up or like how he and Bree hooked up?”  Sam added.

“You said no judgement.”  Tina reminded them.

“You had sex with Jake in the parking lot of some teen club in Dayton?” Blaine asked incredulously.  

“We didn’t have sex in the parking lot.  God I have class.   We made out in the parking lot. Then I drove us back to Lima and we made out some more. Then we went to the dance studio.”

“I can’t listen to this. I can’t listen to this.” Sam put his hands over his ears.  “Who are you? It’s like I don’t even know you.”

“Tina….” Blaine closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his two fingers. “I’m not passing judgement. I’m just...I’m just trying to understand.  I didn’t even know you and Jake were dating.”

“We’re...not?  We’ve been flirting most of the summer but not _dating_.”

“ _You’re not even dating?_ Tina!” Sam stood up in a huff.

“Sam Evans if the next words out of your mouth in any way resemble slut shaming I will remind you that I know all about your dating history at McKinley. _Every. Thing_.  Including the school nurse.”

Sam made an affronted huff and looked to Blaine for support. Blaine held up his hands indicating he was staying out of this fight.  Tina smiled a little in triumph as Sam slowly sat back down.  “I don’t even know what slut shaming is.” He muttered.  

****  
  


“Look I’m not going to tell you this is what I saw happening this summer but I really got to know Jake this summer….”

“Obviously.” Sam pointed out before Blaine elbowed him in the side.

“And I don’t know we’ve always flirted and it never went anywhere because he was with Marley.  And then we spent all this time together because of the pageant and I don’t know we just started flirting again.  It was nice.  And it’s been a long time since someone took notice of me.  I mean the last guy I kissed was Sam.”

“Hey!”

“You know what I mean.” Tina waved her hands.  “I don’t regret it. And I don’t think he does.  And maybe it won’t go past like next week but not everything that starts in the choir room has to last forever or be all complicated and angsty.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you.” Blaine said quickly to stop her speech.  “And if you and Jake are both happy then I’m happy for you. He’s a good guy and you deserve someone great.”

“Thanks Blainey Days.” Tina smiled at him before looking off to the side of her bed again. “There’s just one thing.”

“I swear Tina if you tell me you’re pregnant I will fly back to Lima.” Sam shook his finger at her.

“I’m sorry did you pay no attention when Miss Holiday taught us sex ed?  Do you not know how pregnancy works? No I’m not pregnant.  We were safe ok?  No it’s just this happened a couple of days ago and Jake and I haven’t really had a chance to talk yet.  So I don’t know if this was just a one time thing or a new thing. Whatever. I’ll be fine either way.  Just everyone is going to this karaoke thing tonight.  And I mean _everyone_.”

“Like Marley everyone?” Blaine guessed.

“Yeah. With Matt who she’s started to date. So it’s already awkward and I just don’t want to make it worse.”

“You do have a talent for that.” Sam agreed.  

“And when you try to not say something that’s when you say something.” Blaine nodded.  “And I guess meeting him before hand is out?”

“He’s with Artie and Artie is trying to distract himself from what is going on with Kitty by being super nosy about everything else.”

“Wait. Something is going on with Kitty?” Blaine asked puzzled.

“She and Ryder have suddenly become best friends and no one knows why.  They’re not talking. Unique is pretending she isn’t practically dating Ryder in the first place and Artie is being passive aggressive.  So no. If I talk to him now Artie will figure out something is going on and be obsessed with it.”

“I assume I’ll get all the details on that later?”  Sam wondered.

“Yeah I’ll call you.  Can we figure out what I’m supposed to do tonight?”

“Don’t sneak off to the dance studio to have sex?” Sam offered.

“Keep it up Sam. I know things.”

Blaine’s eyes darted back and forth between Tina and Sam, clearly trying to gauge how close to a fight they actually were.  “Look try to find a time where you can talk to him when everyone is going up to choose songs.  Make sure the two of you are on the same page and then you figure out what you want to tell Marley or if you even need to tell her.  But if this is going to be more than a one time thing? Tina you need to tell her.”

“I know.  You’re right. I know I have to.”  Tina blew out a breath.  “I just need to do this one step at a time.”

“And not sneak off to have sex in the middle of things.” Sam added.

“And what exactly did you and Penny do in the nurse’s office after school again Sam?”

“Ok you need to go.” Blaine said quickly. “And we have people to meet and not tell things to. We’ll talk to you later Tina.”

“Ok. Later.” Tina waved as Blaine turned off the camera on Sam’s sputtering face.  The jab about Penny was a low blow. She’ll have to apologize to Sam for that later.  And she knew when she did he’d apologize for being an over-reacting big brother type.  But first she just had to get through tonight.

****  
  



	28. Chapter 27

“Look at him.”  Jake looked over his shoulder in the direction Artie was glaring at.  He probably should have guessed Artie was referring to Ryder, who was currently finishing ringing up a customer at the counter.  Not for the first time,  Jake wondered why he had been drafted to keep Artie from “accidentally” running over Ryder’s feet all night.  

“Why are we watching Ryder working?”

“Working.” Artie scoffed. “He’s probably texting my girlfriend under the counter while we speak.”

Jake lifted his eyebrow as he turned back around to face Artie.  “Ryder’s my boy and all but if he was trying to text someone under the counter we’d know.  He’d end up flipping the register over. Like the time he flipped his desk over in history?”

“Maybe he’s only stealthy when it comes to girls.”

“Yeah no.” Jake shook his head.  “He was pretty obvious when he was into Marley.  And he’s even more obvious that he’s into Unique.  You’re just paranoid.”

“It’s not paranoia when your girlfriend is talking to him more than you.”

“That would have nothing to do with you being a whack job right now.” Jake pointed out before taking a sip of his coffee.  “You know Ryder and Kitty are just friends.  Even if Ryder was able to pull of subtle, which we all know he can’t, Kitty isn’t the type to go behind people’s backs.  If she’s done with you, she tells you.  And if you don’t watch it, she’ll be done with you.”

“Or they could just tell me what’s going on.” Artie countered.

“Again if you weren’t acting like a jealous nutcase that might happen.”  Jake glanced down at his watch.  “Ryder better be getting off soon.  We’re going to be late.”

“You’re awfully eager to go karaoking for someone who usually refuses to get on stage with the rest of us.” Artie looked at him closely.  “Are you actually going to join in with the rest of us?  Afraid I’m going to steal your song?”

“You can only dream of rocking what I can rock.” Jake put his mug down on the table, sparing a quick glance behind him to see Ryder taking the till out of the register making his way to the back office to count out.  “And I’m not anxious. I just don’t want to be the one Tina lectures when we’re late.”

If Tina wanted to use her tongue on him in other ways….well he wasn’t going to complain.  

He had gone to that club because he didn’t have anything else to do and he wanted to avoid the level of tension that came with hanging out with Ryder and Artie lately.  He and Marley were doing better but he was pretty sure hanging out with an ex-girlfriend while she was dating a new guy was not the best idea.  And Unique was still trying to act like Ryder and Kitty being joined at the hip lately wasn’t upsetting her. He had the opportunity to dance, flirt a little and blow off steam so he took it.

And in walked Tina looking hotter and sexier than he had ever seen her, including that time she performed a Madonna song in a leotard.  They fell into their usual routine of flirting but this time something was different. Maybe it was the music pounding all around them, the stale air of the club or maybe it was just not being in Lima and all the reasons why they should just keep it at flirting and nothing more.  All he knew was when she caught him staring at her lips, for once he didn’t feel the need to stop himself.  

Truth be told, ninety nine percent of the reason he had agreed to Unique’s summons tonight was because he wanted... _needed_ to see Tina again and see if what happened was just because of where they were or if it was because of what they were. Are.  Or even just find out if it was an incredibly hot one time thing or if there was the hope for a repeat performance.  

“Please. You should be more worried about Unique.” Artie waved off his excuse.  “You’ll be sorry when you discover I’ve reserved all of Michael Jackson’s songs for my use.”  

“Again?” Ryder asked as he came to their table.  His green apron was long gone and he was wiping his hands on the front of his jeans.  “Didn’t the manager warn you about that the last time?”

“I’d like to see him stop me.” Artie’s voice tightened when Ryder joined them.  He looked like Simon Cowell about to deliver bad news with his overly polite smile.  Jake closed his eyes and took a breath.  

It was going to be a long night.  God did he hope Tina didn’t want a one time thing just to help him get through playing referee for these two.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Marley asked for what she felt was the millionth time today.  “I mean if you want to bail I totally get it and won’t hold it against you.  We can meet up tomorrow and go to that showing of _Mary Poppins_ instead.”

“I told you this is fine.” Matt promised as he put his arm around her shoulder.  “I like hanging out with all of you guys. You in particular.  And I haven’t seen Tina and Artie in a while so this is good.”  He reached over and touched the tip of her nose.  “Besides I’m pretty sure this is a great chance to actually hear you sing.”

“I could say the same about you.” Marley teased sticking out her tongue as they waited for the rest of their group outside the karaoke club.  There were a few other places around Lima that had an all ages karaoke night but this was the only stage with a ramp that Artie could use so it had become their club of choice.  

“Hey I was a dancer in glee club. I do a killer back up vocal.  Harmonies for days.” Matt smiled at her.  “You get up there and sing and maybe I’ll consider convincing Artie to relive our Kiss number.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”  Marley ducked her head and pushed a strand of hair behind her ears.  “I do think it’s only fair to warn you it’s going to be really awkward tonight.”

“Because Jake is coming?” Matt guessed.  “That can’t be any worse than performing at Sectionals right after Finn found out Puck was the father of Quinn’s baby.”

“You know Tina’s told me that story a million times and I still don’t understand it?” Marley shook her head.  “I mean yes there’s that but I don’t think that will be bad.  Jake and I are still weird but we’re talking. And you said he’s been fine with you at the studio right?”

Seeing Matt nod, she continued. “No I think it’s going to be everyone else.  Artie’s pissed at Kitty. Kitty’s glued herself to Ryder’s hip and Unique is pretending she’s not hurt by Ryder ignoring her for Kitty.  And Tina’s all distracted by the pageant next week.  This may end horribly.”

“But at least it will be entertaining.  Think of the song writing inspiration you could mine out of it.”

“Aren’t you two cute enough to inspire barfing.” Kitty announced as she stopped in front of them, Unique following closely behind.

“Are the guys with you?” Marley asked as she hugged Unique.

Unique shook her head as she released Marley.  “I know they were waiting for Ryder to finish at work but that boy has not texted me once all evening.”

“He said he got off on time.  So they should be here soon.” Kitty offered.  Unique’s face darkened at her words while Marley exchanged glances with Matt.

“Still think this is going to be a walk in the park?” Marley whispered to him.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late.” Tina said in a rush as she ran up to the group.  Marley didn’t miss Unique slipping into her show smile.  “Are the guys inside?”

“Not here yet.  According to Kitty, they should be here momentarily.”  Unique said coolly.

Tina looked back and forth between between Kitty’s confused face, Unique’s unnaturally calm one, Matt’s amused look and Marley elbowing Matt in the side.  “What did I miss?”

“Nothing cause we are here and so’s the party.” Jake announced as he came up behind Tina with Ryder and Artie in tow.  Nodding to Matt and Marley, he slung his arm around Tina’s shoulders  not missing the way her eyes flicked towards where his hand rested.  Kitty smiled at Artie and reached out for his hand while Unique nodded in Ryder’s direction.  “So are we ready to show these losers how it’s done?”

“I for one know _exactly_ what I’m going to sing.” Unique announced with a snap of her fingers, turning on her heel Ryder chasing behind her.  Kitty and Artie followed suit. Tina pulled Jake’s arm off her shoulder shaking her finger at him as they walked past Marley and Matt.  

“You sure you don’t want to make a run for it?  There may be a throw down of the non-musical variety coming tonight.” Marley offered one last time.

“If one happens?  I’ll buy popcorn and split it with you.”

“Deal.” Marley giggled as she put her hand into his pulling him behind her towards the doors of the club.  “If we don’t hurry up Unique is going to sit me between her and Kitty and you’ll have to have to sit between Artie and Ryder.”

“Can’t have that. Artie doesn’t like it when I hold his hand and Ryder and I aren’t that close yet.”

 


	29. Chapter 28

“So why did we never do this when I lived here?” Matt asked Artie as the guys sat down at the group’s makeshift table. Unique had immediately gone right towards the stage, taking the rest of the girls with her.  It was a good sized crowd for a weeknight. Teenagers looking for something to do mixed in with professionals coming in after work.  The larger tables near the back of the room were all occupied so Kitty and Artie grabbed the largest table they could find while Ryder, Jake and Matt had looked for smaller tables to pull next to it.  It looked faintly ridiculous with three round tables designed for two people shoved next to the square table made for four people but it was working. Matt and Artie sat the larger table, charged with watching all the bags while the girls selected a song. Ryder and Jake were tasked with getting drinks for everyone.  

“The main reason is this place only opened last year but also we all would have had to act like we liked each other outside of the choir room and we both know that wasn’t happening.” Artie shrugged while pushing his glasses up his nose, his eyes tracking Ryder’s movement across the club.

“Just curious.  Are you going to do anything other than glare at Ryder all night?  Cause if that’s your plan cool but I just don’t want to get in the crossfire since he is sitting next to me. I’ll go sit next to Tina.”

“I’m not glaring at him. I’m deciding what song I’m going to do to shut all you losers down.”

“You should totally do some Justin Timberlake.” Ryder announced as he and Jake returned to the tables.  “You’d kill on _Sexy Back_ and Kitty would love it.”  

Out of the corner of his eye, Matt caught sight of Jake lowering his head and trying to suppress a groan.  He had to admit he was trying not to laugh himself.  He was fairly sure Ryder had missed the entire conversation about Artie glaring at him but the bringing up Kitty was a bad move. Even if it was common knowledge about Kitty’s infatuation with the singer.  Hell even he knew it and he had only known her for two months.  

“I was thinking maybe some death metal.” Artie said evenly.

“Cool.” Ryder nodded before taking a sip from his glass.  “Is Marilyn Manson covered in that?”

Jake shook his head and punched Ryder in the arm as the girls took the stage.  “Just stop dude.  Please just stop.”

Before Ryder could ask what Jake meant, the familiar opening notes of Janet Jackson’s _What Have You Done For Me Lately_ filled the club. Matt settled back as Unique stepped forward to sing lead.  This group of New Directions may not be as explosively dramatic as the group he remembered, but when the drama happened it was just as much fun Matt decided.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“No bloodshed so far I see” Tina said quietly to Jake as she settled back into her chair.  Kitty had insisted they duet on _Something Bad_ and Tina had to admit they had killed it.  She’d have to rethink her stance on country music if she could kick ass on it like that.  

“Artie’s not actually going to do anything.  He’s more the stab you in a dark alley type.  And Ryder’s paying more attention to Unique than to Kitty which is helping matters.”  Jake whispered back as he nodded his head when Ryder stood up to head to the stage.

“And you and Matt?” Tina nodded towards the middle of their section where Matt and Marley sat across from each other.  Marley was currently in the middle of a heat conversation with Unique and Kitty about which Spice Girl solo career was the best.  (Posh, Tina decided.  It was always the best to be Posh. Hello David Beckham’s abs)  Matt and Artie were discussing the possibilities with the Marvel movie universe.  But every few seconds Matt would look across the table and catch Marley’s eyes so Marley would giggle and blush a little.  It was cavity inducing and Tina might have rolled her eyes at it if she had seen it earlier this year.

But tonight she was a little more distracted by the fact Jake’s hand was on her thigh and dangerously close to slipping under the hem of her dress.

“It’s fine. I’m not going to discuss relationships with the guy or anything.  And I will kill him if he hurts Marley cause she doesn’t deserve that.  But it’s fine.” He leaned closer to whisper directly in her ear.  “I’m not sitting here in a jealous rage if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Maybe I just didn’t want to call Kurt about getting blood out of this dress. It’s one of my favorites and I’d hate to ruin it.”

“I can see why. It looks good on you.”  Jake smiled as he squeezed her thigh. His grin grew wider when he noticed her sharp intake of breath.

“You keep this up and everyone is going to know something’s going on.”

“Is there something going on?”  Jake asked, squeezing again for good measure.

Flushing, Tina looked over at the stage where Ryder was heading to the microphone.  All their friends were cheering for Ryder (Artie less enthusiastically than everyone else to be fair) but Jake kept looking at her.  Well that answered at least one question.  Jake certainly seemed interested in something more than a one time thing.  And no matter how much her body was telling her otherwise, she knew taking his hand off her leg, leading him to the bathroom and locking the door was a bad idea.  They needed to talk at least a little bit first and get on the same page before she fell into whatever this was between them.

“You came with Artie and Ryder right?”  She held up a finger to stop him. “And don’t even think about making a comment about how you’d rather come with me like your brother would.  I’ll stab you with a fork.”

“I wasn’t. I promise.  And yeah I rode over with both of them.”

“Help me figure out a way to have Artie leave with Kitty and Unique leave with Ryder so I’ll have to give you a ride.  We’ll talk.”

“Talking?” Jake smiled, his eyes laughing. “Is that what we do?”

“It’s where we’ll start.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****  
  


Artie paged through the selection guide, determined to find the perfect song.  One that would communicate the deep feelings in his heart while of course pleasing his symbolic artistic nature.  Maybe a little plea for honesty as expressed by one Mr. Billy Joel?  A sure crowd pleaser if he ever heard one.  (Plus he had kind of an awesome track record with that song.)

The selection book suddenly slammed close on his lap. Startled, Artie looked up to find himself looking into Kitty’s very pissed off eyes. “So are you going to talk to me at all tonight or are you going to continue to cockblock Matt and Marley?”

“I am not cockblocking Matt.”

“Please.  You fell asleep during our Batman marathon so I know you weren’t seriously defending George Clooney as Batman.  You’re ignoring me, cockblocking Matt and you’re shooting death glares at Ryder.  And I’m sure you’re picking some lame song in an attempt to prove your point because it’s apparently Sing Your Drama night here.”

“Maybe some of us wouldn’t have to sing our drama if we knew what the hell was going on.”

Kitty held her hands up.  “I told you what I was going through was none of your business.  And I will choose to deal with it how I need to. And everything is fine.  You will wheel the hell out of this conversation.”

“You’re my girlfriend. You should be coming to me with your problems not Ryder.” Artie protested crossing his arms across his chest.

Kitty shook her head. “You know what? Give me a call when you return from the 1950s or whatever black and white movie you think you are living in.  I don’t have to go to you about anything.  And if you have a problem with that?  You won’t have to worry about this stupid my girlfriend won’t go to me about her problems crap because you won’t have one.”

She shoved the selection book into his stomach before turning on her heel and marching back to the rest of the group.  He watched her walk away, her blonde hair swinging behind her.  He didn’t miss the look Marley shot him as Kitty flung herself into her chair.  He also didn’t miss Matt and Jake shaking their heads at him with disappointment written on their faces.

“Well that went about as well as the time you told me how to dress.” Tina remarked from behind him.  

“Don’t start with me woman.” Artie reopened the selection book, determined to not show anyone just how rattled he was by Kitty walking off like that.

Unconcerned, Tina sat down next to him pulling the book out of his hands.  Ignoring his protests, she flipped through the pages.  “I say this as your friend first and your ex second,but you really suck at being a boyfriend sometimes.”

“Gosh. Thanks Tina. You should really look into that career in motivational speaking.”

“Look everyone wants to know what is up with Kitty and Ryder. But the rest of us aren’t acting like whack jobs to find out.  You realize acting like that makes it so she’ll never tell you anything right?”

Artie sighed and looked over at Tina. “It wouldn’t drive me so crazy if she wasn’t lying about it.  She lied to me when whatever happened happened.  She’s lying that it’s nothing.  She’s lying that everything is fine.  It’s not fine.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you.  You’re just making it worse instead of helping.” Tina stopped flipping through the pages and pointed to a line.  “Here.  Start with this song, apologize sincerely like I’ve seen you do and then ask her to go some place where the two of you can talk.  And I actually do mean talk.  About how you were a jerk and how you plan on not being a jerk in the future.”

Artie read the song title Tina was pointing to. “ _Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word_?” he asked skeptically.

“Would you prefer to sing some Brenda Lee?  Cause they have that song too.  I was trying to play to your strengths but if you want to go rogue on me….”

“Is this what living together in the fall is going to be like?”

Tina cocked her head to the side considering the idea.  “Basically but I’ll have to split my advice about how not to be a jerk to women between you and Sam so don’t feel special.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Don’t even pretend you aren’t finding this sweet.” Unique leaned over to whisper into Kitty’s ear.  “I can see that smile you’re trying to fight.”

“It’s going to take more than a lame song for him to win me back over.” Kitty whispered back, although damn it Unique was right.  It was a lame song and so old Mr.Schue probably thought it was hip but it was very sweet.  She really needed to stop hanging around with these saps.  They were destroying her ability to destroy people and not care about it.

“Slap me in the face with this lameness.” Bree’s voice caused everyone to turn around to find her standing behind Jake and Tina.  “I thought the end of your little club meant this town was no longer cursed with your sad taste in music.”

“Don’t you have a broom to ride on?” Marley asked. Kitty felt a proud smile on her face.  Little Marley Rose was showing some spunk.

Bree didn’t miss a beat.  “Still an uptight prude?”

“Bree leave Marley out of this.” Jake sighed.  “You’re mad at me.”

“And I told you before. You don’t tell me what to do.” Bree shot back.

“And I told you what would happen if you kept messing with my friends.” Kitty pointed out, standing up slowly.  “You want to go further?”

Looking around the table, Bree’s eyes locked with Kitty’s for a long minute,trying to judge how serious Kitty’s threat was.  Kitty kept a deadly serious expression on her face.  If Bree wanted to do this, then Kitty would fight fire with fire to protect her friends.

“Whatever.  I have a better class of people to be with outside of here.” Bree smiled coldly at them all.  “Later losers.”

Kitty remained standing until she was positive Bree was moving towards the exit.  Only then did she sit down to find everyone’s eyes turned to her. “What?  I many have told Bree that if she keeps messing with my friends that I’ll make sure she loses her position as Head Cheerio.”

“Do we want to know how you can do that?” Ryder asked.

“Look she’s on thin ice with Coach Roz because of the whole prom thing.  And I  may have said I could get Artie to fake a sex tape of her and Jake and make sure everyone in the school saw it.” Kitty shrugged. “And Jake i was pissed at you when I said that so of course I wouldn’t do that now. But she doesn’t need to know that.”

“If that’s all you came up with, then I’m probably lucky.”  Jake pointed out.

“Was that Bree?” Artie asked as he came up to the group. “What did I miss?”

“Just your girlfriend being a badass.” Ryder offered with a smile.

“Of course she is. That’s part of the reason why I go out with her.” Artie reached out for her hand.  “The other reason being of course she’s an independent woman who makes her own choices that I respect completely.”

“Is that an apology?” Kitty asked, her eyebrow raised.

“Partly.  Can we talk? Just the two of us?”

“Maybe later. But I will let you sit next to me.”

“Progress. I’ll take it.”

 


	30. Chapter 29

“I don’t care what Artie said. You totally won that competition.”   Unique turned carefully into Ryder’s driveway.  He smiled over at her.  He didn’t really mind losing his ride with Artie to Kitty.  If it meant Artie was going to stop looking like he was about to stab him, Ryder wasn’t going to complain at all.  

It wasn’t that he didn’t get why Artie was acting like a head case. He did.  His mouth just ran a little quicker than his brain sometimes.  (Ok most of the time.  He was working on it)  If he had girlfriend and she suddenly started hanging around this other guy all the time, Ryder could admit he’d be pissed too.  And there was his whole history with Marley and being a dick to Jake there so yeah Ryder could admit he had _some_ history there.   But he was working on that.  And it’s not like he ever thought of Kitty in _that_ way.  

He had promised Kitty he wasn’t going to reveal her secret. And he wasn’t.   No matter how many times Artie “accidentally” ran over his foot.  Or ran into the back of his legs.  Now that he thought about it, it was probably a good idea to not walk behind Artie until Kitty was no longer obviously lying when she said was ok.

At one point he suggested Kitty work on her poker face since everyone could tell something was going on with her, but she had threatened to sneak into his room and shave him bald.  That was the end of that.

“We didn’t have a competition.  But if we did, of course I would have won.” Unique pointed out as she came to a stop in front of his garage.  Ryder unbuckled his seatbelt and waited for Unique to put the car into park and shut the engine off.  It had been too long since they had a chance to talk, just the two of them.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity.

He raised his eyebrow in confusion as Unique sat patiently looking intently at his garage door, showing no signs of sticking around.  “Unique?  You want to turn off the engine?  If we’re going to sit here and talk then you’re going to waste gas.”

“Oh we’re going to talk are we? Now you want to spend time with me?”  Unique asked, her eyes never leaving the garage door.

“Unique I always want to spend time with you. I mean I know I’ve been busy lately but I’m here now.”

“Because Kitty isn’t.” Unique pointed out quickly, finally looking over at him.  Ryder knew her well enough to recognize the hurt that flashed in her eyes before she fought it back.  He reached out to take her hand from the steering wheel, but Unique saw what he was going to do and moved it quickly.  “Don’t even try to lie to me. If Artie hadn’t asked her to talk you’d be with her right now and not me.”

“Kitty’s been going through something and I’ve been helping her. That’s all.”

“Do you think I’m a fool?  I know Miss Kitty is spooked about something.  That is not what this is about.”

“Then what is this about?  Cause I’m lost.”

Shaking her head, Unique shut the engine off.  Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye.  “What exactly are we doing Ryder?” she asked softly.

“You’re telling me why you’re mad at me?”

Unique shot him an exasperated look, tilting her head. “Not doing here now. What are we doing in general?”

Ryder shook his head.  “Ok I’m lost.”

“We’ve been hanging out all summer together.  All of our friends tell us we’re dating.  And I know we’re not but when you ditch me to spend all this time with Kitty and you don’t tell me why, it hurts.  And it shouldn’t hurt like this.”

“Unique…” Ryder reached out to take her hand but she pulled it back from him.  “I can’t tell you what’s going on with Kitty.  It’s not my secret to tell….”

“And I’m not asking you to tell secrets.  But all this has made it clear to me that we need to figure out what is going on here.  Because I do not like feeling like this.”

“We don’t have anything to figure out. We’re friends.”

“Are we?  Cause I wasn’t this upset when Jake ditched us all to help Tina.  And I think until I figure out why this makes me so upset, I don’t think we should just hang out anymore.”

“Unique.”

“I’m not going to avoid you. We’ll still see each other with the rest of the group.  But I can’t do this anymore.” Unique gestured to the empty space between them.  “I just….I need to figure things out.”

Ryder nodded.  He didn’t want to push her. Unique was too important to him. And if she wanted space, well it would suck but he could do it. For her, he could do it.  “And when you figure things out?”

“When we figure things out.” Unique corrected. “You have some thinking to do too.  This is not all on me.  When I figure things out I’ll let you know. When you figure things out you let me know.”

Ryder put his hand on the door.  “Until then?”

“Until then.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Artie glanced over to where Kitty was still sitting silently in the passenger seat.  He had pulled into her driveway ten minutes ago and she still hadn’t said anything.  He let out a sigh. Of course she wasn’t going to make this easy on him.

“I know I’ve been……” He paused looking for the right word.

“A jealous head case? An insecure whimp?  Acting like someone who wants to be dumped?” Kitty jumped in.

“I was going to say jerk.”

Kitty shrugged.  “That too.”

“And I’ve been told that I have issues that I need to work on before I find myself alone with my camera forever.”

“Always knew Tina was smart.”

“And I’m sorry for acting like you aren’t trustworthy or that you have something going on with Ryder.  I know there isn’t and I should have taken the fact I’m confused out on you.”

“You’re damn right you shouldn’t have.”

“But I also have to say that I don’t appreciate being lied to and you’ve been lying to me. I know you aren’t fine Kitty.  You haven’t been since whatever happened at the mall that day happened.  I saw you.  You weren’t fine.  And you still aren’t fine.”

“I am fine.”

“You aren’t. Not when you can’t look at me in the eye and say it.”

Pushing her hand through her hair, Kitty glanced over at him.  She let out a breath and chewed her lower lip.  “I know you care Artie but this isn’t something you can help me with.”

“How do you know that?”

“I do.”

“But Ryder can?”

“Yes. He can.  And don’t ask me why he can because I’m not going to tell you.”

“Kitty.” Artie groaned.

“Look. You don’t want me to lie to you? Fine.  No I wasn’t ok that day. But I’m better now.  I’d be a lot better if my boyfriend wasn’t thinking with his little brain instead of the one in his head.  I’m not going to tell you what happened because that is none of your business.  And Ryder won’t tell you what’s going on because he knows better.  You want me not to lie to you?  You stop acting like I am under some obligation to tell you everything.”

She opened the door, jumping out of the car.  Artie felt the car shake with the force of her slamming the door behind her.  He watched as she ran up to her front door and almost slammed that door as well.

“Well” Artie sighed to himself as he started up the car.  “That clearly went well.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh shut up. That was not the most fun you’ve ever had.”  Marley shoved Matt in the side as he walked her up the stairs of her porch.  

“Come on. There was singing.  Some pretty epic chair dancing.  A total drama moment.  It was better than being in the choir room. It brought back memories.” Matt laughed.

“You’re weird.  Anyone ever tell you that?”

“All the time.” He smiled as they stopped in front of the door.  “Anyway you’re on this date with me so what does that make you?”

“Oh this was a date?”

“You need clarification?”

Marley ducked her head.  “I’m just saying dates usually are just two people. We tend to go out in groups a lot.  I mean we’ve never gone out just the two of us.  The last time we were going to but then we ran into Ryder and we all hung out.”

Matt took a step closer to her, tangling their fingers together.  “So what you’re wanting a date there is no chance your friends can crash it?”

Marley looked up, smiling to find him so close. “I thought they were your friends too.”

“When they crash our dates, they’re your friends.” Matt smiled softly. “Ok one uncrashable date. I can do that.  What about the day of Tina’s pageant?  Just you and me. We’ll still meet everyone there but before it will just be you and me.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Sounds like I have work to do then.”

“Yup.  Better get to it.” Marley smiled as Matt leaned down to kiss her softly.  “But you can always take a break for this.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I thought we were going to talk” Tina breathed out as Jake moved his lips down the column of her throat.  She rolled her head back as he hit a particularly sensitive spot, letting out a breathy sigh.  The zipper down the back of her dress had been pulled open, leaving her back exposed as she straddled Jake’s thighs. He had the passenger seat pushed all the way back while her hands were buried under the fabric of his tshirt.  

Jake looked up at her, amusement in his eyes.  “So talk.” he said while his hand worked its way further up the skirt of her dress.  

Looking down at him, her hands pushing his increasingly stupid shirt up, Tina could almost feel the heat that was burning in his eyes. Heat for her.  The way he was looking at her was delicious.  It made her feel wanted, sexy and powerful.  It had been a long time since she had been looked at that way. Too long.  

His nails scratched her lightly and Tina made her decision.  Her hands pushed his shirt up, forcing Jake to remove his hand to help her get rid of the now offensively in the way shirt.  She tossed it behind his head in to the corner of the backseat.  Before Jake could reach for her again, she pulled back a little pushing her arms out of her dress and letting it fall around her waist.  

As Jake’s fingers traced up her back, Tina could tell she was going to have to take back everything she told Blaine about having class and not having sex in a car because this was so going to happen.

She closed her eyes and groaned as Jake resumed kissing her neck. “Talk later.” she managed to whisper.

“Much later.” Jake agreed as he crushed their lips together.

****  
  



	31. Chapter 30

“I still don’t get why we need to go shopping.” Marley protested as Unique pulled her along by the arm into the mall.  The rush of air conditioning that greeted them made her shiver. She never had figured out why the management of the mall felt the need to keep the temperature the same as the polar ice caps.  She shouldn’t feel the need to bring a coat with her just to go shopping.

“Pssh.  You’ve got yourself a non-group date with Matt and your clothing selection is far too limiting.  Also I need retail therapy right now and as my best friend you are obligated to attend.”

“One my clothes are perfectly fine and you know that.  Two don’t think you can say something like that and I’m going to ignore it.”  Marley sighed as Unique pulled her into a store. “And three you know I can’t afford anything in here even if I did need clothes which I don’t.”

“Kitty’s birthday is next month. I love that girl but I can never tell if her suggestions are serious or not.  Lord knows she’ll be miserable to be around after Artie leaves so I’m looking for a good present now. It may save us some ice cream later.”

“Has she said anything at all?  I’m guessing since Artie is shooting glares at any couple that passes his way their talk after karaoke didn’t go well.”  Marley absent-mindedly pulled out a blouse and put it back almost immediately. No way would Kitty wear a fuchsia leopard print top.  (Unique on the other hand would rock that.  Maybe there was a similar fabric somewhere and Tina could teach her how to make it)

“Other than muttering that men are scum no.” Unique shook her head at a rack of skirts before moving towards the jewelry displays.

“Has Ryder said anything?  He’d probably be the only person who’d know these days.” Marley picked up a few bracelets without really looking at them.  She wasn’t going to find anything in her budget for Kitty’s birthday present here.

“I wouldn’t know.” Unique shrugged, her voice entirely too controlled.  Marley dropped the bracelets back on to the rack and looked over at her.  Unique was making a big production of carefully looking over some earring that Kitty would never consider.  “We haven’t spoken since karoake.”

“You haven’t….so that’s why….” Marley grabbed Unique’s hand, ignoring her friend’s startled yell.  Dragging Unique behind her, Marley made a beeline for an empty bench she spotted two stores down from where they were.  Once they arrived, she shoved Unique down by her shoulders forcing her friend to sit.  “Spill.”

“I know we have talked about the proper way to make an entrance and exit.  And that was not it.”

“Quit trying to stall and tell me what’s going on with you not talking to Ryder for three days.”

“I can go three days without talking to him and nothing being wrong thank you very much.”

Marley shot her best unimpressed look.  “The last time you went three days without talking to him was when he found out you were Katie.  And even then you hugged at Regionals so yes there is something wrong.”

“But there is nothing wrong. We aren’t fighting. I’m not avoiding him.  And I told him as much.  We’re just taking some time to figure some things out right now.”

“Figure things out?  Are you guys breaking up?”

Unique made her best not amused face towards Marley.  “Once again we’d have to be dating in order to break up.  And we aren’t.” She ducked her head and became interested in scrapping imaginary gum off the bottom of her shoe.  “And I’m wondering if maybe that’s the problem.”

“Unique?” Marley reached out and took her friend’s hand.  “What’s going on? Tell me.”

Not letting go of Unique’s hand, Marley turned herself on the bench so she was facing Unique, pulling her legs into a cross legged position.  She was probably going to get stuck like this but this was more important. And it really wouldn’t be the first time Unique had pulled her out of position she couldn’t get out of.

With a sigh, Unique closed her eyes.  “I know Kitty is going through something and for whatever reason she trusts Ryder with that.  And I am fine with that. Everyone carries their cross in their own way as my grandma says.  But it hurt when he ditched me to spend all this time with her.  And friendship shouldn’t hurt like that.”

“Unique.” Marley shifted her legs and scooted closer to her.  “You aren’t just friends with Ryder.”

“Girlfriend don’t you think I figured that part out ages ago?  Who do you think you are talking to?  I know that.  I thought I could just ignore it and that part I didn’t realize I failed at.”

“So you’re not talking to Ryder until you can ignore it?”

“That or he realizes he flirts with me constantly and a gentleman doesn’t lead a lady on like that.”

“Then we’re going to need something stronger than shopping.  We’re going to need ice cream.” Marley decided.  “Epic heartache always needs ice cream.”  

“What have I told you about throwing my words back in my face?”

“That it’s what best friends do.” Marley held up a single finger as she heard Wham start to play from her phone.  Fishing it out of her purse she smiled as she answered it. “Hi Blaine!  What’s up? How’s New York? Is it as fabulous as the movies? Is it completely and totally romantic?”

“Who’s answering Marley’s phone?  My angsty songwriting partner doesn’t believe in romance anymore.”  Blaine teased her.  “Unless she’s fallen in love again.”

“Very funny. I know Tina told you about Matt.  And it’s way too soon for love.  But I definitely like him.  Date number three is this weekend.”

“At some point you are going to have to introduce me to him.  You know this right?  I haven’t friended him on Facebook yet because I don’t know him and that would be weird but everyone else I’m friends with is friends with him so it’s going to look like I don’t like him if I don’t meet him soon.”

“Did you just call me to worry over your Facebook etiquette?”  Marley laughed as Unique rolled her eyes.

“Of course he did.” Unique said with a giggle.  “That boy will never quit a job because he won’t be able to write a the perfect resignation letter.”

“No. I just wanted to let you know I got those lyrics you sent but I haven’t had time to work on the arrangement this week. I’ve been swamped with work.”

“It’s fine Blaine. You know I don’t expect you to get those back to me immediately right?  I know you  have more important and exciting things to do in New York than work on songs with me.”

“There’s nothing as exciting as working on songs with you.” Blaine said sincerely.  “And when I convince you to come visit me I’ll even find an open mic night for us to perform these at.”

“The performance is not happening but I’ll think about the visit.  But first I promised Unique ice cream.”

“Ice cream? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“She just figured out she and Ryder are basically dating but Ryder hasn’t yet.” Marley said simply.   “Ice cream is the least of what we need.”

“Tell her to have some sprinkles for me. And if she needs me to talk to Ryder I’ll do it.”

“I’ll let her know. Talk to you later Blaine.”

“Bye Marley.”

“Blaine says hi and you are to have extra sprinkles for him.” Marley explained as she put her phone back into her purse.  She held her hands up towards Unique. “Now help me get out of this and I’ll buy the ice cream.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Walking out of the theater into the sunlight, Tina blinked to readjust her eyes.  As far as she could tell the final rehearsal had gone fine with not major disasters or attempted murders.  Actually this entire thing was short on murder plots and she should really complain to Sandra Bullock for lying to her about this crucial detail.  In fact today was deadly dull. Bree didn’t even show up to glare from the back of the theater.  And Jake had a class to teach right now so she didn’t even have him to look at in the audience.  

A fact she intended to change right now, she thought as she checked her watch.  If she didn’t hit any traffic she should be able to meet him right as his class let out.  And maybe she could convince him they needed to have another “practice” session.

Hearing Queen sound from her phone, Tina smiled.  “Blainey Days!”

“When are you telling Marley, Tina?”

“When there’s something to tell her.  At this point it’s just a two time thing.”

“Tina.” She could almost see him rubbing the bridge of his nose at her response.

“Ok three times.  But it’s not really a thing until it’s four times so you know I’m totally covered there.”  Tina argued as she got into her car, throwing her dance bag into the backseat.

“Tina I love you.  But it seems like this thing you have with Jake isn’t stopping any time soon.  I  mean I know what happened in the car and I know your feelings on car sex.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“I wish you hadn’t told me any of it.” Blaine pointed out.  “You know she might not even care. She seems really happy with Matt  You’ll have set up all this drama for nothing..”

“Oh she’ll care. I would care if Mike suddenly started dating Kitty.”

“One that would be one really weird hook up and your love of AU pairings will really help me with this Firefly fic I’m working on so we’ll get back to that.  Two you have that irrational jealous streak and I’m pretty sure Marley doesn’t have that in common with you.”

Tina released a sigh. “Ok so maybe it’s not so much Marley I’m worried about as it is Jake.  He pulled away from all of us because he was afraid of hurting her again. If he thinks that dating me would hurt her….”

“You think he would end things with you.” Blaine finished for her.  “You do realize the best person to talk to about this isnt’ me right? It’s Jake?”

“We tend to not do a lot of talking when we’re alone.”

“I’m beginning to get the picture. You may want to work on that.”

“And what if talking is a deal breaker? What if he doesn’t want to talk?”

“Then you need to figure out what you want.  And either way, I’ll be here for you. Just don’t give me the details of the non-talking parts.”

“I think I can manage that.”

 


	32. Chapter 31

“For the record I thought you were kidding when you said we had to go out of town for this date.”  Marley pointed out smiling from her spot in the passenger seat, her feet pulled under her.  “You do realize we are 95 percent kidding about the whole mob thing right?  We don’t really have spies everywhere.  I mean Tina does but that’s Tina.”

“I may not have been in New Directions long but I know you all move in a pack. It’s like you have a homing beacon on each other.  If one of you gets kidnapped I figure the rest of the group will find them in about five minutes.” Matt shrugged his shoulders.  “It might not be intentional but I’m not taking any chances.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re paranoid?”

“It’s not actually paranoia when you know how New Directions operate.”

“Ok you got a point there.” Marley laughed, turning her brother towards the driver’s seat.  “But now that we’ve left the city limits do you think I can know what we’re going to do? Or why we had to leave at 8 in the morning?”

“Well I figure Tina will want you to help her get ready for the pageant tonight so we need to get back early.  Deer Creek has a farmers’ market every Saturday morning and then maybe we could get a kayak and hit the water?”

“I’ve never done kayaking.” Marley mused, tilting her head to the side.  She had taken his advice to wear comfortable clothes to heart, ignoring Unique’s choices and opting for a pair of well worn jeans and a plaid shirt.  She pulled her hair into a ponytail before smiling over at him.  “Is this just an elaborate plan to throw me in a lake and get me soaking wet?”

“Well it wasn’t before but it is _now_.” Matt joked. “But seriously if you don’t want to do that, there’s some hiking trails or we could just hang out on the beach.  Or there’s golf...”

“I’m sure kayaking will be fine.” Marley smiled at his nervous babble.  “Anyone ever tell you you’re cute when you babble?”

“Most people would find it hard to believe I babble period.”

Marley giggled.  “Artie told me once that he didn’t even know you could speak for six months.”

Matt tilted his head, considering the story. “I think it was closer to four. Artie always exaggerates.”

“I just find it so weird that you were as quiet as Artie and Tina say you were.  Not that you talk a lot or anything but you’re not silent.”

“How much time have you spent with the group that graduated last year?” Matt asked slowly.

 

“Some.  Mercedes is great and Kurt makes Blaine so happy it’s like a Disney movie.  Mike was super patient with me during _Grease_.  I know Jake loves Puck.  I don’t really know Rachel or Quinn and Santana….Santana kinda freaks me out.”

“Santana can have that effect on people.”  Matt agreed.  “They’re all good people and I wish I stayed in better touch with some of them after I moved.  But singing and dancing for me wasn’t the same level as it was for most of them.  I’m not aiming for Broadway.  I like to dance but I’m not going to make career out of it.  It’s just something fun I like to do.  And I know Mr. Schue liked to pretend it was therapy for us but I didn’t really feel I had any problems that I couldn’t get out.” Matt shrugged his shoulders.  “Other people seemed to need it more so I just kind let them do their thing. Then add in Mr. Schue being Mr. Schue….”

“You know we kept a litter of kittens that Unique found by the football field in the choir room for a month before Mr. Schue noticed? There were five of them and they were so cute. We named them after our favorite singers.  My mom allowed us to sneak food to them. It was perfect. ”

“So how did Mr. Schue find out?”

“Lady Gaga wandered out from the nest we made behind the band and peed on his shoe. Then we had to get rid of them.  Brad took Lady Gaga home before we were done with practice”

“I wish someone got that on video.”

“I’m pretty sure Artie did. We can ask him tonight.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_All the women who independent_

_Throw your hands up at me_

_All the honeys who makin’ money_

_Throw your hands up at me_

Tina threw her leg up on the bench, bending over to stretch.  Leading up to today, she had assumed she wouldn’t be nervous when it came time for the pageant.  She had performed at Show Choir Nationals three times and won it once.  She was going to study to be an actress. (maybe...well today she was anyways)  She was a prom queen. Tina Cohen-Chang was not going to get nervous because of a local beauty pageant she in no way cared about other than for scholarship money.  

But when she woke up and realized what today was?  The butterflies immediately took residence in her stomach.  Her original plan was to take it easy this morning but with the unexpected attack of nerves, she had decided to do her usual routine of running through the park to try to keep herself focused.

The brief sensation of fingers flickering lightly across her back made her give out a startled yelp. Putting her leg down and pulling out her earbuds, she whirled around quickly to find Jake standing there, a basketball tucked under his arm and a smile on his lips.

“You are so lucky I didn’t punch you.” Tina put her hand to her chest, feeling her heart racing.  

“You like me too much to punch me.” Jake pointed out, starting to bounce the basketball.  “I think there are still some scratches on my back if you need me to prove that fact to you.”

Tina smacked his arm, looking around the park for any of their friends to pop out of nowhere.  “A gentleman doesn’t talk about that in public.”

“Whoever said I was a gentleman?” Jake pointed out with a ridiculous wiggle of his eyebrows that made Tina laugh.  “Ready for tonight?”

“Maybe?  I thought I was. But then I thought I wasn’t going to get nervous and I woke up this morning to butterfly city.”

“You’re going to be fine.” Jake stopped bouncing the ball, kicking it towards the bench as he took a step towards her. “You’ve got this.”

“I don’t know. Some of these girls have been doing this thing since they were in the womb.”  Tina sighed and turned her head towards the rest of the park, not wanting Jake to see the doubt in her eyes.  She had talked a good game this entire summer but what if this turned out exactly the way her entire senior year turned out?

“Hey.” Jake softly traced his finger down the side of her face, stopping at her chin.  He gently nudged her chin to look at him.  “I’ve been with you every step of the way on this.  I’ve seen the same things you’ve seen.  None of those girls have what you have.”

“A banner made by Ryder?”

“Well yes but that’s not what I meant.  None of those girls are Tina Cohen-Chang. And none of them have her fire.”

Tina could feel her cheeks flush as she looked down at the ground.  Damn he could be charming when he wanted to be.  “You are way too good for my ego. You know that right?”

“You do the same for me so we can call it even.”

“Can I ask you something?”  She twisted her hands together to keep her nerves at bay.  They were still related to the event tonight and had nothing to do with what she was about to ask him, she told herself sternly.

“Shoot.”

“So you know how each contestant can have one person backstage to help her?  I was going to ask  Unique in case I need help with my costume change but I was wondering….would you stay?”

“You want me to help you in and out of your changes?” Jake took a step closer to her. “Sounds exciting.”

“As tempting as that sounds…” And Tina could admit it did sound tempting.  “You’ve kept me calm about all this.  And I’m going to need that tonight.”

“If you want me?  Then I’m there.”

“I want you.” _In more ways than one_ , Tina added silently.  

“Then you got me.”

 


	33. Chapter 32

“Quit squirming and sit still.” Kitty pulled the bobby pin out of the corner of her mouth as she twisted Tina’s hair into the updo they had discussed last week.  “People think you can’t make someone bleed with a bobby pin but I’ll prove them wrong.”

Unique stepped back from where she was doing some last minute smoothing of the fabric of the evening gown.  She cast a critical glance and shook her head before turning around to face Tina, clad in the standard opening number outfit that looked strikingly similar to their costumes from Sectionals.  “One would never know it to look at him but I will give Jake this.  He approved a fabulous gown.”

“I picked the dress.”  Tina pointed out, smoothing out the tiers on her pink ruffled skirt.  “He just said it was fine. _Ow_. Kitty!”

“I told you to sit still.” Kitty shrugged unconcerned.  

“I’m here! I’m here!” Marley pushed through the maze of people in the backstage area to reach the tiny dressing mirror Tina had claimed as her own.  “I’m sorry! We hit traffic but I’m here and I have the jewelry.”

Marley opened up the bag, pulling out the earrings and placing them on the vanity.  Unique’s eyes widened as she noticed Marley’s wet hair pulled up into a bun.  “Is it raining outside?  It wasn’t supposed to rain.  My hair is too good to ruin because of rain.”

“What?” Marley asked confused before catching sight of herself in the mirror.  She blushed. “Oh no. It’s fine.  This is just from….it’s from my date. I tried to make it look ok for this but yeah it looks awful I know.”

“From your date?” Kitty arched her eyebrow without stopping her work on Tina’s hair.  “Marley Rose did you go skinny dipping?”

The other girls giggled as Marley’s blush deepened.  “No. No. You guys come on. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know about that.  You come back from a date out of town with wet hair. Sounds like you might do that.” Tina teased.

“We went kayaking and he tipped the canoe.” Marley protested.  “There were clothes involved!”

“Wet clothes.” The other girls chimed in, giggling.

“I hate every last one of you and I’m going up front now.” Marley stomped her foot, moving the earrings just out of Tina’s reach.

“Marley! Marley! Stop! We were just joking! Marley stop!” Tina ignored the frustrated groan Kitty let out as she leaned forward to grab Marley’s arm.  “Come on you guys need to leave soon enough and I need you here.”

“You need us here to get you ready but you want Jake back here during the performance.” Unique rolled her eyes.  “Jake’s my boy but you know he’s not going to be able to do what I can do with your hair should you need it.”

“She won’t need it if she just stops moving.” Kitty pointed out.  “I brought so much product even Blaine would call it too much. His hair will move more than her’s.”

“Jake has paid more attention to the other girls than I have.”

“Well that seems true.” Unique added in quickly while Marley shoved her arm.

“I didn’t mean like that.  I mean I’m sure he has but he knows their routines better than I do.  He’s heard their practice interviews more than I have because I was back here.  I know it sounds weird but he knows this thing better than I do at this point.” Tina shrugged her shoulders.

There was also the fact that so far he had a pretty great track record of being able to calm her down when the nerves got the better of her. Even when they couldn’t be physical.  Which was not going to happen here thank you very much, Tina told herself sternly.  She just needed to get through this contest and then if something happened later...well something happened.

“Jake does give really great pep talks.” Marley said softly. “He really calmed me down before Sectionals.  I know that doesn’t seem like the greatest endorsement but….”

“No. I get it.” Tina smiled, squeezing Marley’s hand.  She updated her to do list.  She needed to get through this contest,  if something happened then something happened and when they weren’t surrounded by half the population of Lima, she would tell Marley everything that was going on. Well maybe not everything, but enough details that Marley would get the picture.

“Alright enough of this sappy crap. We don’t have time to redo your makeup when you cry.” Kitty made a particularly vicious tug on the hair before jabbing several bobby pins into Tina’s scalp.  Before Tina had time to complain, Kitty reached around and grabbed the can of hairspray. “You might want to hold your breath.”  she warned before she started to spray.

Tina covered her eyes to keep them from watering.  She could hear Marley and Unique making exaggerated coughing sounds.  “Alright you drama queens. I’m done.”

Looking into the mirror, Tina smiled.  True to her word Kitty had every hair perfectly in place.  And there was more than a passing resemblance to Blaine’s hair, which was totally not a bad thing.  Blaine’s hair could withstand a hurricane so her’s would last the night.  Standing up, she leaned over the vanity to grab the gold earring she had decided on earlier for the opening number.  Turning around, she held up her arms for full inspection.  “How do I look?”

“Like a beauty queen.” Jake announced as he came up from behind Kitty.  “You guys might want to get to the seats.  It’s fun watching Ryder jump from seat to seat and all but eventually he’s going to kick Artie and….”

“I can not deal with Ryder and his puppy dog eyes and the police today” Unique shook her head.  “Once and future Queen Tina I will see you after your coronation and we will talk about some of the crimes against sequins I see back here.”

“Break a leg!” Marley chirped out as she rushed forward to hug Tina, but not hard enough to destroy her outfit.  “I’ll be cheering for you.”

“Destroy my masterpiece and I will destroy you. On stage.” Kitty threatened pointing to Tina’s hair.  “And if you don’t crush Stacy I’m reconsidering our entire friendship.”

“That motivational speaking career is going to bring big things to you Kitty. Really. I can see it.” Jake called out as Marley, Unique and Kitty disappeared down the hall in a flurry of waves, wishes of good luck and giggles.  Jake tapped the badge he had attached to his jacket.  “Pageant coach? Really?”

“Was there another title you wanted on there?” Tina teased, tracing her fingers up his arms to his shoulders.  “Cause I was trying to keep it family friendly here.”

“Looks like your nerves are under control”

“Must be the company.” Tina smiled.  “Is everyone really out there?”

“Yup.  Our friends are in the front row so you will absolutely see the banner Ryder insisted on making.  And hear the cheer Marley and Unique made up. And your parents were sitting next to Artie the last I saw them.”

“They’re sitting next to _Artie_?  Ok _that_ makes me nervous.”  Tina chewed on her bottom lip. The last time her mom sat near Artie, he had made a comment about Lara Croft which resulted in a three hour lecture from her mom on sexism in the gaming industry.  Tina could admit Artie needed some education in that area but his opinion that the Lara Croft movies were awful wasn’t wrong.

“Relax.  I think Ryder has decided to spend all his time charming your mom to get in Unique’s good graces or something.” Jake shrugged.  “I don’t know.  He comes up with the plans and I just go along with it so long as I don’t land in jail.”  

“Alright girls, ten minutes to curtain. I need you all to get into your positions for the opening number.”  The director clapped her hands as she pushed her way through the sea of hairspray and tulle.  “Places.  Places.  It’s showtime.”

“This is it. You ready?” Jake asked her.

Tina nodded quickly, twisting her hands together.  “Yeah. I got this.” she declared in what she hoped was her most confident voice.

Jake pulled her close to him, tilting his mouth towards her ear.  She felt a tiny shiver that had nothing to do with nerves fly down her neck when he started to whisper.  “You do got this.  Just ignore everything and think the only person watching you tonight is me. Just me.”

“Just you huh?” Tina whispered back as she reluctantly pulled back.  

“Just me.  Now go kill this thing.”

**  
**Tina leaned over and kissed his cheek before blowing into his ear. “No problem, coach.”


	34. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please heed the warning for discussion of cannon sexual assault.

“Someone better start blowing stuff up because _Miss Congeniality_ so lied to me about how exciting pageants were.” Kitty settled back in her seat, rolling her eyes.  “If I have to listen to another person murder a show tune?  I’m going to throw a bigger hissy fit than whatever that was between Rachel and Mercedes at the end of school.”

Marley shushed her but more out of concern the parents of one of the other contestants was sitting near them than actual disagreement.  She could appreciate listening to people sing, after all she had been in glee club.  But the mystery of why the glee club could never find an overabundance of members was becoming painfully clear.  If Tina didn’t win the talent portion, then the judges were deaf.

“Anyone else feeling sorry for Jake?” Ryder leaned over Unique’s lap to whisper, thankful Artie was currently talking with Tina’s parents during the break.  Mr. and Mrs. Cohen-Chang had found their sign and cheer cute but he didn’t really want to take the chance they were the type of parents who were anti-trash talking.  The lecture he saw Artie get was enough.  “I mean we just had to hear this stuff once.  He’s been at _every_ practice.”  

“And here we thought he was done punishing himself.” Unique shoved Ryder back into his seat.  “We need to work on how you talk about people without making it obvious.If some parents hear us talking about their precious princess and attack I am shoving you out to take the beating first.”

“At least it will liven this joint up.” Kitty sighed.  Marley good naturedly rolled her eyes in Matt’s direction.  “How long does it take to figure out who the fairest of them all is?  Did they misplace their magic mirror?”

“It’s a scholarship competition.” Matt pointed out, reciting the line that had been said by his best guess 900 million times during the night.  “They are considering more than just looks.”

Kitty arched her eyebrow at him.  “Marley.  You have finally found someone more naive than you.  Please don’t procreate.  The Disney babies you two would produce wouldn’t be able to survive outside the womb.”

“ _Kitty_!” Marley hissed, blushing furiously while Unique started to laugh.  Ryder went back to flipping the “Tina is the only queen” sign he had been holding every time Tina had walked across the stage in the air.  He cringed when he missed on his second flip, the sign hurtling to the floor.  It was a good thing they sat in the front row otherwise that would have hit someone in the head.  Like it did when they had tried to sit in the very back of the theater when they first came in.

The lights flashed in the theater. The family members and friends that had been milling around awaiting the final results hurried back to their seats.  As the lights dimmed, Unique threw her program at Artie’s head.  “Artie you remember the plan for when Tina wins right?”

Artie held up the five bouquets of flowers that were on his lap.  “They announce Tina as the winner and I drown her in flowers. I got this.”

“You better.” Kitty and Unique said in unison.

As the lights dimmed, the curtain rose revealing all the contestants in their evening gowns.  They found Tina easily enough, standing in the front row stage left.  Kitty, Unique and Marley screamed her name while Ryder waved the sign.  Matt and Artie let out whistles of appreciation.  Tina’s smile widen as their calls reached her ears.

“Does her hair look a little messy to you?” Unique whispered to Kitty.

“It shouldn’t.  Even Blaine would say I used too much product.” Kitty threw a critical glance at her masterpiece.  Everything seemed to be in place but Unique was right. Something seemed a little off about it.

The obnoxious local morning drive DJ who had been emceeing the pageant danced out to center stage.  “Ladies and gentleman I hold in my hand the judges’ choice for our top three contestants.  But before I announce the winners, let’s give all of these lovely ladies a round of applause.”

As the crowd dutifully applauded, the emcee rearranged the envelopes.  “Ok. First I have the pleasure of announcing of some individual awards.  First the winner of the talent competition, for which she’ll receive a $200 scholarship…..Miss Tina Cohen-Chang!”

Ryder, Matt, Marley, Unique and Kitty all jumped, stomping their feet as Tina walked across the stage to accept her trophy and an envelope containing her prize check.  Artie did his raise the roof dance move from next to her parents.  And although she couldn’t be positive Marley was pretty sure she heard Jake whistle from backstage.

“And now for Miss Congeniality…..” the emcee continued as Tina hurried back to her spot.  

“Oh we know our resident diva did not get this one.” Kitty whispered.  “We can sit back down.”

“Kitty! Be nice” Marley whispered harshly as she sat down.

“What? I mean it with love.”

“She and Artie need to make up soon cause I don’t know how much more of Kitty’s love we can collectively take.” Unique said quietly out of the side of her mouth.

“I heard that.”

“You were supposed to.” Unique pointed out snapping her fingers as the rest of the room applauded for the tiny redhead who’s name Unique had completely forgotten already ran back to her spot with her trophy.

“And now for the moment you all have been waiting for.  The winner of Miss Allen County.  Our second runner up...the winner of a $500 scholarship is…….Miss Stacy Green!”

“Please let Tina have crushed her skinny no talent ass.” Kitty prayed under her breath.

“And our first runner up...the winner of a $1000 scholarship is…….Miss Tina Cohen Chang!”

The flinch of disappointment on Tina’s face was only briefly visible if a person was looking for it.  And her friends in the first row were looking for it.  Ryder reacted first, jumping up to wave the sign wildly.  Artie rolled himself towards center stage where Tina was receiving her crown, tossing up a bouquet of roses towards her feet.  The girls, Matt and her parents jumped up and cheered just as loudly as if she had won the whole thing.  Reaching down to pick up the roses, she scrunched her nose up at Artie.  

They remained standing as Tina made her way over next to the third place finisher.  They kept standing until the emcee shot them a look that clearly translated to “wrap it up please.”  

“Well if nothing else everyone in this room knows who the real winner of this rigged competition is.” Unique said as she sat down, not caring if a parent overheard her or not.

“So it’s Plan B tonight at Tina’s?” Kitty asked for confirmation.

“Plan B.” Marley agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“One would think there would be a better place designated to greet royalty than the parking lot” Unique complained as she kicked an empty plastic bottle out of her way.  

“Do we really have to call Tina Queen Tina?” Ryder wondered.  “It’s not like she won…”

“Don’t let her hear you say that.” Artie offered helpfully.  “You wouldn’t think it to look at her but her punch is surprisingly effective.”

“You know I actually do believe that about Tina.” Ryder shrugged his shoulders.

“Well at least she beat Stacy. Then I don’t have to listen to Bree act like she’s the best thing since sliced bread at cheer camp.”

“I thought you weren’t going out for the squad this year.” Marley pointed out as she wrapped her arm around Matt’s.  

Kitty shrugged.  “We don’t have glee club this year. I have to do something.”

“Yes because when you don’t have anything to do you tend to ruin lives.”  Kitty caught her breath as the voice came from behind her.  “Looky here Shane.  We came to support Mindy and look who we run into!”

In confusion, the group looked over as a petite brown haired girl with a look of total hatred walked towards where Kitty was standing.  A boy with sandy blonde hair about Ryder’s height stood next to her.  The similar face structure clued Marley into the fact the two strangers had to be siblings but nothing else.  She had no idea who these people were.

But Kitty clearly did.  Kitty had gone completely still, her eyes wide and her skin gone pale as the two approached.  “Julie.”

“Julie?” Ryder repeated from the back of the group as he moved closer to Kitty.  Marley mentally ran through all the Julies she knew from McKinley and couldn’t come up with one that would cause this kind of reaction from Kitty.  

“Excuse me, do we know you?” Unique asked.

“Oh Kitty knows me.  Or are you going to lie about that too?”  

“Julie I didn’t lie.”  Kitty looked over at her friends. “Julie and I knew each other in middle school.”

“Oh please.” Julie flipped her hair over her shoulder.  “ _Knew_ each other?  I thought you were my best friend. I knew all about your pathetic little crush on my brother. He didn’t like a twerp like you back and you decided to ruin his life.”

“I didn’t lie.” Kitty insisted, the tremble in her hand the only clue to how badly this, whatever this was, was shaking her.  Artie pushed himself closer and closed his hand over hers.  He wasn’t sure what was going on but he knew when his girlfriend needed him next to her.

“I think you better leave.” Ryder said steadily as he stepped in front of Kitty.  Matt went to stand next to Ryder as Marley and Unique went by Kitty.  

“Who are you? Her newest potential victim?  Or is that the one who’s holding your hand? Looking to destroy two lives at once are you? Branching out.”

“Look I don’t know what you think Kitty did?” Marley said forcefully.  “But you don’t get to talk to her like that.”

“Middle school was a long time ago.” Unique added.  “Time to stop living the past girl.”

“It’s not the past when her lies cost  my brother a scholarship.  Didn’t want him to be a distraction.  Not with that mess in Steubenville.  You ruined his life.”

“Steubenville?” Marley repeated quietly.  She had seen reports on the news about the rape allegations coming out of Steubenville.  Marley felt her stomach sinking, remembering the week of the black out and how Kitty had sought Ryder out after his confession in the choir room.  She hadn’t thought too much about it then but now…..now Marley felt ill as she started to realize why Kitty had approached Ryder.  She looked over at Unique and Artie’s stricken faces and realized they were coming to the same conclusion.

“Ryder.” Marley said quietly.  She didn’t have all the details but Ryder obviously did.  “Ryder get her out of here.  We got this.”  Matt nodded, slipping his keys into Ryder’s hand.  She and Matt could easily get a ride with Unique.

Ryder nodded, never taking his eyes off of Shane.  He took the hand Artie wasn’t holding in his, turning her around before he turned his back.  “Come on Kitty.  Let’s go.”

Marley and Unique closed in the spot where Kitty had stood, trying to protect her from Julie’s view.  “You need to leave.” Marley repeated.

“Trust me. I’m doing you a favor.” Julie scoffed. “She pretends to be all innocent….”

“Kitty? Pretend?”  Artie pushed his way between Unique and Marley.  “Kitty is many things. She’s tough.  She’s got awful taste in movies.  But she doesn’t pretend to be anything she’s not. And not to mention she’s a terrible liar but if you really were her friend you would have know that already.”

“And what are you? Her white knight?”

“We’re her friends.” Unique snapped back  “And there is more of us coming.  So I suggest you fly back on the broom that brought you and get out of my sight.  Or I will be forced to take off my nails and you do not want that to happen.”

“You might want to listen to them.” Matt offered slowly.  “Unique made all state in field hockey this year.  I’ve seen Marley flip grown men over her shoulder.  Artie has no qualms about crippling people and I was all state in football.  Not to mention Tina and Jake.”

Julie took a long look, as if she was debating if Matt’s statements were true.  Finally she shook her head. “One day you’ll see that I was right. Don’t come looking for me to help you when she decides to turn on you.”

“Yeah don’t worry about it.” Artie called out to the pair’s retreating backs.  He waited until he was sure they were out of earshot before casting a skeptical look at Matt.  “Marley’s thrown grown men over her shoulder?”

Matt shrugged.  “So I forgot the details that we were in the lake and she took me by surprise. It worked didn’t it?”

Marley wrung her hands together.  “So Ryder is probably taking Kitty home right?”

Unique nodded. “Yeah.  If I were Kitty that’s where I’d want to be.  Change of venue?”

“Change of venue.” Marley nodded.  “I’ll go find Jake and Tina and fill them in on what’s going on and meet you at the car?”

“And then we’ll go to Kitty’s.” Artie said quickly.

“I don’t know if all of us going there is a good idea.” Matt said quietly.  “I’m all giving support and if she wants me to be there then I can.  But this was pretty major. She may just want Ryder there.  Maybe not everyone go at once?”

“And you claim you were in New Directions.” Unique sighed. “That is not how we do things.”

“We’ll just go there and make the offer. If she wants us to leave, then we’ll go.  But at least we can make the offer?” Marley chewed her bottom lip.  “Just go to the car.  I’ll go get Jake and Tina.”

“I don’t know what’s taking them so long but this better help them get their butts in gear.”   Unique shook her head.  “You have five minutes Marley. Drag them out by their hair if you have to.”

“They’re probably talking with Tina’s parents.  It won’t even take that long.  Five minutes.” Marley promised as she raced back inside the theater.

“Come on gentlemen. Escort this lady to her chariot and let’s figure out a plan for what we say when we get there.  And if you know an appropriate song for this situation there are a lot of questions we’re going to have to discuss tonight."  

 


	35. Chapter 34

“Well you certainly got more flowers than Kathy Greenbriar.” Jake pointed to the small garden that was currently sitting on the make up table in front of Tina.  Tina scrunched her nose up at him, dropping the cloth she was using to remove her stage make up.  The evening gown was hanging up on the corner of the mirror, her bathing suit and talent competition outfit shoved into her dance bag at her feet.  The opening act costume had long been surrendered.  

“That’s because my friends don’t understand the concept of restraint.”  Tina started pointing to the individual bouquets.  “The roses are from you guys which I know you already know.  The tulips are from my parents.  Rachel, Mercedes and allegedly Santana sent the sunflowers which also included a list of ‘helpful hints’ from Rachel on how to handle the press and from Santana on ‘how not to blow it like a loser’.  Blaine, Kurt and Sam sent the lilies.” She shrugged her shoulders.  “At least time coming in second doesn't meant the entire pageant is cancelled.”

“See? Progress!” Jake teased. He pulled a single pink rose from behind his back.  “Here.  One more for the garden.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Tina blushed as she took the flower from his fingers.

“Hey I am now officially a multi award winning choreographer.  Don’t think my mom’s not going to put that on my college applications.”  His fingers drifted down the curve of her neck to her shoulder.  

“Should have realized you were just using me for your own motivations.” She moved his fingers off her. “Stop that.  Everyone is waiting for us.”

“Your parents left and Kitty is probably picking a fight with Artie as we speak.  No one is wondering where we are.”  His eyes met hers in the reflection of the mirror.  “Besides it’s not like we’ll have a reason to be together all the time anymore. We should take advantage of that.”

“No reason? You planning on leaving town or something on me?”

Jake shrugged.  “Look this has been fun and all but the pageant is over.  It’s not like we have anything to rehearse together.”

“Well yeah but we don’t need an excuse to see each other.”

“Don’t we?” Jake asked his eyebrows arched.

Tina turned around in her chair to face him.  “I’m not going say this is what I expected when we started this whole thing…”

“Yeah you expected to lose or star in _Carrie 2_.”  Jake pointed out, lowering himself to her eye level.

She shoved his shoulder before taking his hand. “Not what I was talking about and you know it.”

“Fine. Fine. Go on.”

“Anyway I know we haven’t really talked about this whole thing….”

“We do tend to find other things to do than talk.” Jake agreed swinging their hands between them.

“Something we should probably try not do right now.  The thing is I didn’t expect this but I not done with this yet.  I’ve kinda gotten used to your face being around.”

“My face huh?” Jake smiled and not for the first time Tina marveled at how his face lit up when he really and truly smiled.  It felt like the concentrated power of a sunbeam directed right at her.  

“And maybe some other things.” She teased back as Jake moved closer to her.  “You know like those cookies your mom packs in your dance bag…” her eyes closed as he left a butterfly kiss through the fabric of her shirt on her collarbone.  “Your atrocious taste in dance music.” Her breath hitched as he moved to tease her neck.

He blew into her ear before whispering to her. “I told you. I may be a Gaga by Mr. Schue’s logic but that doesn’t mean I have to like her music.”

“Are we really going to debate a glee club assignment right now?” She asked a little breathless as his fingers attempted to work her hair loose.  He gave up the task a split second after he started it. (Kitty had been right. This do probably would withstand a hurricane)  His fingers traced over her lips, stopping only when she parted them slightly to nip after his thumb.

“This is why we’ve never talked about things.” Tina pointed out, her voice a little breathless.

“I can stop.”  

“I never said for you to stop.” Tina pointed out before putting her hand on the back of Jake’s neck and closing the gap between them.  Her eyes fell shut a split second before their lips met.  As their lips slid over each other, she forgot the fact they were still backstage, there were still a few girls who didn’t want to leave just yet.  She forgot that their friends were all outside and if Unique got tired of waiting she was completely capable of walking in here and dragging them out herself.  She even forgot all her carefully thought out reasons why they had to talk about this and she needed to talk to Marley before she fell into their increasingly familiar dance so easily.  

Her hands pulled his electric blue dress shirt from the back of his pants so her fingers could slip underneath the fabric.  She felt the flex of his back muscles as Jake pushed them both back further into the table.  The chair started to tilt and Tina stood up to keep from falling over.  Jake followed her, his fingers slipping her black tshirt out of her jeans, tracing her sides.

“People are waiting for us.” She pointed out quietly.

“And when we meet them, the girls are going to steal you away for the rest of the night.” Jake whispered, dropping his words between kisses to her cheek, forehead and nose.  “We won’t be able to talk like this for the rest of the night.”

“You make a good point.” Tina smiled as their lips came back together.  As his fingers slipped around to her back and moved higher, she could feel herself trying to remember if there had been an open broom closet or if the green room would possibly be unlocked and empty right now.

“You are a very bad influence.” She smiled at him, her own fingers moving to trace the outlines of his abs.

“So I’ve been told.”  

Tina head the footsteps as Jake pressed his lips against hers.  She figured it was one last contestant getting ready to leave the dreams of tiaras behind for another year.  Whoever they were, she didn’t care. So long as they didn’t interrupt this.

“Tina? Jake? Where are you….OH MY GOD!”

Marley’s voice registered a split second too late.  Tina pulled away from Jake,his fingers getting tangled briefly in the fabric of her shirt.  Tina put her hand to her mouth, feeling they were well on their way to becoming swollen.  She looked over as Jake tried to tuck his shirt back in while turning around.

Marley stood, her back partially towards them.  Tina could see her hands clenching and unclenching as Marley raised them to cover her mouth and then back down to her side.  She tried desperately to look at anything else in the area, her eyes darting back and forth but they kept coming back to where Jake and Tina stood.

“Marley!” Tina exclaimed.  “I...we….”

“I just came back to let you know there was a change in plans.” Marley interrupted, still not turning and facing them.  “We’re all going to Kitty’s.  Guys too. You can just meet us there….or not...I didn’t mean to interrupt…..I think...I think I better go.”

Marley turned to run away.  “Marley wait.” Tina called out.  “I can explain.”

Marley shook her head, still not fully turning around.  “You really...you really don’t need to. I’ve got to go to Kitty’s.  You can text Matt for the details if you want.  I just...I need to go to Kitty’s.”

With that Marley ran back towards the exit.  Tina covered her face in her hands, her shoulders slumping forwards.  “I wanted to talk to her first.  I didn’t want her to walk in on us like that. I wanted to talk to her.”

“You can always blame me.” Jake shrugged.  “I seem to have a talent for screwing up where Marley is concerned.”

“Stop it.” Tina swatted his hand.  “I’ve known I’ve needed to talk to her and I kept putting it off. It’s as much my fault as anyone’s”  She reached down and grabbed her dance bag, throwing it in Jake’s direction before grabbing her dress.  “Come on.  We need to go face the music.  We need to go to Kitty’s.”

“Do we have to?”

“I have a feeling the longer we avoid it, the worse it’s going to be.” Tina pointed out.  “Come on. You drive. I’ll text Artie.  He’s the least likely to be emotionally involved in this.”

“Ok. But let the record show I was fine with just staying here and avoiding the entire situation.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

 


	36. Chapter 35

“Voice mail. Again.” Tina groaned and leaned her head against the passenger seat.  She had distractedly thrown Jake the keys to her car as she tried to text Marley with no response.  “Artie’s phone is never off.  And he has this stupid new impression of Macklemore he thinks is awesome to answer the phone with. What the hell is going on?”

“Are you sure you’re not over-reacting?” Jake held up his hand when he saw the sour look Tina shot him.  “I don’t mean about Marley.  That was bad and we should have told her.  But just because you can’t get in touch with Artie….”

“And Unique. And Kitty. And Ryder.” Tina ticked off on her fingers.  “Matt has probably dropped off the face of the Earth again too.”

“They didn’t drop off the face of the Earth. We know everyone is going to Kitty’s.”

“But we don’t know _why_ everyone is going to Kitty’s.  For all we know someone died while I was on stage and they are going to arrest me there for murder. I can not rock prison orange.”

“Ok put your phone on speaker.”

“What? Why?”

“Cause you’re going to call Matt and when he answers the phone, he’ll tell you what’s going on.  And I want to be able to hear it for myself since you’re kind of going off the deep end.”

“I am not going off the deep end!”

“Tina you didn’t kill anyone.  Now dial Matt’s number and I will ask very calmly what is going  on so you quit picturing self as the star of a Lifetime movie set in a women’s prison.”

“Excuse you. My life story is way bigger than Lifetime.  It’s an Academy Award baiting prestige piece thank you very much.”  Tina sniffed while she dialed Matt’s number.

“Tina?” Matt’s voice sounded tinny through the speaker of the cell phone.  “Where are you?  I thought you were going to come out with Marley but you didn’t….”

“I can explain that and I will but Matt what the hell is going on?”

“Matt please tell Tina she’s not going to be arrested for murder.”  Jake said calmly.

“Do I want to know why I have to do that?”

“Not really.” Jake shrugged.  

“Ignore him.” Tina shoved Jake’s shoulder.  “Just tell me what’s going on? Why is everyone going to Kitty’s? Why are you the only person answering your phone?”

They could both hear Matt sigh.  “Look I don’t have all the details and I’m not sure it’s even my business to have them but I think everyone else figured out why Kitty’s been hanging out so much with Ryder.  It has something to do with a blackout?”

“The blackout?” Tina repeated slowly.  “Matt, tell me what you do know.  We’ll meet you guys at Kitty’s.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You don’t have to stay and baby sit me you know.” Kitty said as Ryder dropped her favorite blanket over her shoulders before he laid back on her bed.  She pulled her feet closer to her, hugging her knees to her chest.  “I’m not gonna pull a Tina or hell even a Blaine.  I’m fine.”

“Whatever.” Ryder started to tap a rhythm out on his chest with his fingers.  “”Just in case I haven’t told you this before? Julie is a bitch.”

“I learned from the best.” Kitty muttered darkly, biting her lower lip.

Ryder looked over at her.  “No. You didn’t.  You’re more like that brown haired girl from _Legally Blonde_. You know the one everyone thinks is a bitch but ends up being really cool once Elle gets to know her?”

“How concerned should I be you just made a Legally Blonde reference?  And made it correctly?”

“I’ve seen the download of the Broadway show on your phone.” Ryder pointed out, covering his head when Kitty threw her pillow at him. Wrestling it away from her, he put it behind his head.  “Seriously though, are you ok?”

“There’s the question of the hour.” Kitty sighed.  Ryder asked it when they got into Matt’s car. Her mom asked it when Ryder walked her in the house and explained in a quiet whisper who they had run into in the parking lot.  It was the question everyone kept texting her, which she was clearly not answering.   “How stupid is it I thought I would never see either one of them again?”

“It’s not stupid. I think the same thing.” Ryder shrugged.  

“Not that I ever wanted to see him again but I used to have this dream that if I would stand there and I would tell him exactly what he did to me.  And Julie would be there and she would really listen and realize I was telling the truth.” Kitty blew out a shaky breath to keep the tears from forming in her eyes.  “I didn’t do any of that. I just...I just froze.  I stood there and said nothing.”

“Anyone would have done that.” Ryder reassured her softly. “I probably would have done that.”

Kitty shook her head, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.  She wasn’t even about to start dealing with the fact this had happened in front of all her friends.  And Artie.  She didn’t want their sad looks or their judgement.  She didn’t want to deal with giving explanations and now...now she was going to have to.

A soft knock sounded on her door.  “It’s probably your mom with that ice cream.” Ryder offered.

“Kitty? Are you in there?”  Marley’s concerned voice carried through the door.  

Kitty rolled her eyes. Where else did Marley think she was?  Clearly her mom had told her she was up here. “No. I jumped out the window.”

“Well the witch didn’t get your tongue I’ll give you that.” Unique called back.  “Open the door girl. We just want to see you.”

“You’ve heard me. You know I’m alive.”

“Some of us are harder to convince than others.” Unique said calmly.  “Namely two testosterone driven fools downstairs.  Wait...here comes Tina. Add Jake to that count.”

Kitty groaned, pulling the blanket over her head.  “Of course everyone came.  I can’t attract normal friends to save my life.”

“Hate to break this to you but this is what friends do.  They check on each other.” Ryder patted her knee.

“Can I go back to being a bitch now?”

“Look Kitty, if you really want us to leave we will. But we’re worried about you. And we care about you.  So if you want us to sit with you and talk about this or just ignore it we can.  But we just want you to know we’re here for you.” Marley said softly.  Kitty could just see Unique and Tina nodding along. She was willing to bet there were tears in Marley’s eyes.  

“I could get rid of them for you. But I do think it will work better if they actually see you.” Ryder pointed out.

“Augh! Fine!” Keeping the blanket over her shoulders, Kitty went to open the door.  As she thought, Marley did have tears in her eyes.  She didn’t even have a chance to tell them she was fine and they should all just go home before she found herself being wrapped in Marley’s arms.  “Marley I need to breathe.” Kitty said, her voice muffled by Marley’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry I just really wanted to give you a hug. I don’t know what else to do and I thought you might need it.”

“I think….you may have been right on that.” Kitty sniffed a little. Ryder nodded and slipped past Tina to go downstairs. “I thought you said the guys were here too.”

“Downstairs.” Unique explained.  “We didn’t know what state you were going to be in and getting Artie’s chair up here may have tipped you off we were coming if you were in a running mood.”

“Are you ok? What Matt told me sounded awful.” Tina asked, reaching out to touch Kitty’s shoulder.  

“I’m ok...well I’m not ok but… I just...I just really don’t want to get into details about this.”

“Understood.” Unique nodded.  “We are not going to push.  But we did want you to know that if you wanted to, we are willing to listen.”

“And we were already planning a sleepover tonight anyway so we can stay here and stay up all night not talking about it.” Marley offered.  “Or we can go. If you want.”

“I think I just want to be alone tonight.” Kitty said quietly.  “I just want to go to bed and forget all about it.”

“Fair enough.” Tina reached out and hugged her tightly.  “But I’m just a phone call away.  And I’m coming over tomorrow.”

“Me too.” Marley added, circling her arms around the both of them.

“Try and stop me from coming.” Unique declared joining all three of them.

“And we’ll try to keep the guys from whatever plan they have to kick some ass.” Tina added.  “Artie looked ready to go to war when I came.”

“Artie….I can’t… I don’t….” Kitty took a step back.  She wasn’t an idiot.  If these three were going to come back tomorrow, so was Ryder.  And Jake. And Matt (for some reason.  Probably to see Marley but still he’d be there.)  And Artie. She really wasn’t ready to see him.

“I’ll talk to him.” Tina promised.  “I am very skilled at getting Artie to listen to reason.”

“Thank you.  I may feel differently tomorrow but right now…”

“Right now you need to do what’s best for you.  And we’ll be here whenever you need us.” Marley promised.

“How did I become friends with such saps?” Kitty groaned

**  
**“But aren’t you glad you are?” Tina smiled.


	37. Chapter 36

“I still think we should go up there.” Artie protested, his eyes darting up the stairs to where Kitty’s room was.  Marley and Unique had disappeared upstairs as soon as Mrs. Wilde opened the door, with Tina quickly following behind.  Matt squeezed Artie’s shoulder.  Jake felt bad for the guy.  He agreed with Tina’s assertion that it would be a good idea to let the girls go up there first, after all Kitty was closer to the girls.  Well with the exception of Artie and Ryder, Jake amended.  It had to suck wanting to help and not being able to. Hell he and Kitty barely dated and he felt helpless. He couldn’t imagine what Artie was felling.   

“Let the girls feel her out.” Matt offered.  “Marley’s pretty good at reading Kitty. And we all know Unique and Tina don’t take no for an answer.  If Kitty wants to see us, she’ll see us.”

Jake flipped Tina’s phone over in his hand.  She had shoved it towards him before she raced up the stairs.  He could see Blaine had sent her three texts that she had ignored. Sooner or later, he figured Blaine would take to calling someone to find out what was going on.  If there was one thing Tina didn’t do, it was ignore a text from Blaine. Jake only hoped Tina was back down here before that happened.  Jake wasn’t entirely sure if he could explain what was going on without screwing it up and making things worse.

“Or she could jump out the window.” Artie muttered.  

“She’s not going to jump out a window.” Ryder answered as he came into the living where the rest of them sat.  Jake and Matt jumped up while Artie pushed himself closer. Ryder fell back on a nearby chair.  “She’s talking a good game about it but if she really wanted to do that? She’d have done it already.”

“How’s she doing?” Artie asked, his eyes never leaving the area Ryder just appeared from.

Ryder looked over his shoulder.  “She’s not great but she’s not about to jump out a window.”  He pushed his hair out of his eyes.  “She’s shook but she’s a lot tougher than she’s giving herself credit for right now.  She was being a smart aleck with Marley when I left.”

“That sounds good.” Matt said hopefully.  

“It’s a start” Ryder corrected before looking over at Artie. “I don’t think she’s coming down tonight dude.  But she knows you’re here.”

“I should be up there.” Artie made a move to towards the stairs but Ryder put his hands out on the arms of Artie’s chair.

“No. Give her her space.” Ryder counseled.  “She didn’t want to tell anyone about this in the first place and tonight?  Tonight wasn’t good.  Let’s just leave it at that.”

“She’s my girlfriend Ryder.”

“I know that.  And no offense dude but you don’t have the best track record with tact.”

“He’s got a point.” Jake shrugged his shoulders as Tina’s text notification buzzed in his hand.  He glanced at the screen. Blaine. Again.  

“I have tact.” Artie argued, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“You really don’t.” Matt shook his head.  “You’ve never had tact Artie.  Do I need to remind you at least partly why we had Madonna week?”

“Do we want to know about Madonna week?” Ryder asked looking over at Jake.

“Probably not.” Jake answered, looking down at the phone as Blaine texted again. He probably should just text the guy back but Tina was really uptight about other people using her phone.  Which Jake sort of understood but really it wasn’t like Ryder _meant_ to change the language function on her phone to French.  And they had eventually been able to get it changed back.

“Just give her some space right now. Unique and Marley told her you were down here.  If she wants to see you she knows she can just come downstairs but honestly?  I don’t think she will come down. She was trying to kick me out before I even got her here.”

“Thank you for that.” Artie sighed and looked across the room towards the kitchen where Kitty’s parents sat whispering together.  “The rest of us didn’t know what was going on but you did. You knew what to do.”

Ryder shifted uncomfortably back and forth on the heels of his feet.  “Yeah well, it’s nothing she wouldn’t do for me.”

Artie opened his mouth to say something but shut it immediately as Unique, Marley and Tina came down the stairs.  Tina went to squeeze Artie’s shoulder with a sad smile. Marley tucked herself into Matt’s side while Unique hugged Ryder.  Jake caught Tina’s eye and she tilted her head in Marley’s direction.  He nodded.  He certainly didn’t think Marley still had a thing for him.  She had made that crystal clear before school ended and it looked like she had a good thing going with Matt.  But Tina wanted to talk to Marley first and he was going to respect that.  It wasn’t that long ago that he and Ryder were still awkward over Marley.

“How is she?” Artie asked looking back and forth between the three girls.

“Tired.”  Tina said quietly. “She said she just wanted to sleep.  But we told her we’re coming back tomorrow and I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean her threat to leave town in the middle of the night.”

“I wish she would come down so I could see her.” Artie sighed as Tina rubbed his arm.  “But I have no idea what to say to her.”

“I don’t think any of us do.” Tina leaned over to hug him.  

Tina’s phone buzzed again.  Jake looked at as his friends looked over at him. “Sam this time.  He wants to know why you haven’t responded to Blaine’s texts.  I think they’re worried.”

Rubbing her eye, Tina let out a sigh. “I’ll call them.  I don’t know what I’ll tell them but I’ll call them.”  She held out her hand for her phone. When their fingers met as he gave the phone back to Tina, out of the corner of his eye Jake caught Marley looking away.  

“Come on Ryder. We’re going to tell Mr and Mrs Wilde that we are all going home.” Unique announced. “And warning them we’ll be back in the morning.”

“I’m going to wait outside.” Artie gestured towards the front door. “I just need a minute.”

Unique nodded, dragging Ryder with her to the kitchen as Artie made his way outside.  Jake looked at the remaining group of himself, Tina, Marley and Matt. And then there were four, he thought.

“Marley?” Tina asked, her voice quivered slightly.  “Before you leave can we talk?”

Marley shook her head.  “I just...not tonight.  I really can’t talk about that tonight.”  She pulled Matt’s hand into her’s and started towards the door.  “Take me home?”

“Ok….” Matt said slowly. He looked between the three of them in confusion.  “I guess we’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

“Yeah tomorrow.” Jake held his finger up to say goodbye as Marley led Matt to the door.  Tina sighed, shook her head before taking the few steps to close the distance between them and collapse against him.  Jake automatically brought his arms around her, rubbing her back. “Hey. It’s going to be ok.” he whispered against her hair.

“I don’t know.” Tina said quietly.  “I just don’t know.”

“You want me to take you home?”

“Can we go someplace else?  It’s just...my parents think I’m spending the night at Marley’s.  I have to call Blaine and Sam and I don’t know what I’m going to tell them.  Can we just go someplace and I don’t know but….i just don’t want to go home.”

Taking a quick glance to make sure Ryder and Unique were still in the kitchen, Jake pressed a quick kiss to the top of Tina’s head.  “Yeah. Come on.”

As they walked to the door, Tina tucked into his side Jake glanced up the stairs where he knew Kitty was behind her closed bedroom door.  He still didn’t have any idea how to help her but maybe tomorrow he would find an answer.


	38. Chapter 37

“I know last night was a flurry of activity and excitement,” Unique stated as she tossed pillows at Marley’s face as Marley remade the bed. “But don’t think for a hot second that I forgot the way you ran out of the theater like the devil himself was chasing you.”

“I did not run out like that.” Marley protested as she straightened the pillows.  She knew it didn’t really make sense why she felt the need to make up Unique’s bed when Unique herself didn’t seem to care but she did.  “I was concerned about Kitty and wanted to see how she was doing.”

“I love Kitty as much as everyone else but we both know you were not running out like that because of her.”  Unique shook her head as she held up two different pairs of shoes she was debating on wearing with her outfit.  “The leopard print or hot pink?”

“Leopard.” Marley answered distractedly as she pulled up the quilt on the bed.

“My fabulous taste is clearly rubbing off on you.” Unique smiled happily as she put the hot pink kitten heels back in the closet.  “So you ran out of the theater last night. You barely made eye contact with Tina when she and Jake showed. You kept moving away from her.  If you want to lie to yourself about how fine everything is going when you are clearly lying to yourself be my guest.  But then I’ll be forced to ask Tina what’s going on and that might keep me from Kitty in her hour of need.”

“I was…..I wasn’t avoiding Tina.  And this really isn’t the time to talk about it. We should be going over to Kitty’s.”

“Please. Let Artie get there first.  It will good for both of them and the rest of us can stop planning on locking them in a room somewhere and throwing away the key.” Unique pulled up her desk chair towards the bed and patted it for Marley to sit down.  “Sit.  Tell Unique all about it. And don’t say nothing because I know you better than that.”

“It is nothing.  I’m just being weird” Marley tucked her hair behind her ear before waving her hand.  “I promise I’m fine. Yesterday was just weird all around.”

“How long have we known each other? Have I ever been easily distracted by such lame misdirection?”  Unique shook her head in mock disgust.  “I thought you knew me better than that Miss Marley Rose. Now we aren’t leaving until you tell me all about it so you might as well start talking.”

“It really is stupid.” Marley warned.  “And it’s really not worth discussing.”  

“You let me be the judge of that. Start talking.”

Marley let out a sigh.  She really didn’t want to talk about it but she knew Unique and she knew Unique would not let this go.  Not that there was anything to let go of.  She had been surprised last night, sure but it wasn’t like she and Jake were still together. They had been over for months. She was with Matt now and if he was with Tina then good for everyone involved.  It wasn’t like she still had feeling for Jake or anything. The whole running out thing was just because she was surprised, that’s all.

She was absolutely positive that was _all_ it was.

Wringing her hands together, she looked out the window.  “Fine but I’m telling you it’s nothing.  It’s just….Tina and Jake have been doing other things than preparing for the pageant. Like….making out with each other.”

“Tina? Our Tina?  And Jake?” Unique’s eyes lit up at the news.  “Tina and Jake?  And you….”

“Walked in on them with their hands all over each other?”

“Awkward” Unique said in a sing song voice.  “Well Miss T has certainly been holding out on us. A long discussion with her is completely warranted.”

Marley grimaced slightly.  Unique reached out and grabbed her hand. “Oh.  You’re upset about this.”

“I’m not upset. I was just surprised.  It was a lot to process on top of everything else last night.”

“If you were just surprised why didn’t you mention anything about it until just now?  We were together all last night and you didn’t say a word about any of this.”

“It just slipped my mind until this morning.  And I don’t want to make a big deal out of this because it’s not a big deal.”

“So you have no problem with one of your friends doing who knows what with your ex for God knows how long?” Unique raised her eyebrow.  “You are a better person than even _I_ give you credit for.”

“Jake and I are over. We’ve been over for months.  It was the right choice. And I’m with Matt now. And he’s great.”

“Matt is great. But you loved Jake.  And you didn’t break up with him because you didn’t love him anymore.”

Marley covered her face with her hands before blowing out a breath.  “I was surprised. I didn’t know they were seeing each other and it caught me off guard.  I’m fine. Jake and I are just friends. And Tina is my friend and everything is just fine.  Ok?  Now you know so we can go see Kitty.”

Unique shot her best skeptical look in Marley’s direction.  “Oh we aren’t done.  But denial is not just a river in Egypt.  And trust me when this whole thing blows up in your face? I will be there to say I told you so.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Glancing at his watch, Artie really hoped Mr. and Mrs. Wilde still liked him.  Because he was pretty sure the only thing that would keep them from calling the cops on him for what he was about to do was some feeling of goodwill.  A part of him felt 8 am was way too early for this but a quick glance up at the light shining in Kitty’s window let him know he wasn’t the only one up.

He tossed the rock he had picked up in the street on the way here, testing its weight in his hands.  It felt heavy enough or at least Artie thought it did.  It didn’t seem like it would break the window.  Who knew what the appropriate weight was for throwing a rock at someone’s window anyway?  Well Blaine probably but if he called and asked then Artie knew he’d have to explain and he just didn’t want to get into all that just yet.

All he wanted to do was see his girlfriend and talk to her.  

He threw the rock up at the window, satisfied when he could hear the clink of the glass from his spot in the driveway.  After a second, the curtain began to move and Artie adjusted his guitar in his lap.

He had barely started to strum the melody when Kitty called down from her now open window.  “You aren’t seriously thinking about serenading me are you?”

“Maybe?”

“It was really creepy when Mr. Schue did this to Mrs. Schue just so you know.”

“Would it help if I asked myself what would Blaine do when I thought of this?”

“Not really.” Kitty shook her head.

Artie laid his guitar down on his lap. “I just didn’t know what else to do and I thought maybe a song would help.”

“It’s a sweet thought but a song isn’t going to fix this.”

“No. I didn’t….I didn’t think that.” Artie protested.  “But it could be a start?”

“Start of what exactly?”

“An apology? I’ve been a jerk lately.” He caught sight of her raised eyebrow. “Ok _more_ of a jerk lately.  I’m sorry.  I knew you were dealing with something and I got jealous and I should have trusted you.”

“Yeah you should have.” Kitty agreed before letting out a sigh. “But I did tell you I was fine but spend all my time with Ryder without explaining….”

“You don’t have to.  Explain that is.” Artie interrupted.  “If you want to, I’m totally willing to listen but if you don’t I get it.”

“Do you?”

“Not entirely? But enough.  You’re what’s important here Kitty. Everything else is just details.”

She smiled softly and he could just make out her blinking her eyes in what he hoped was an effort to keep tears back.  “Don’t turn into a sap on me now Abrams.”

“Never.  I was going to serenade you with Marilyn Manson.”

“You do know the way to my heart.” Kitty looked over her shoulder.  “Why are you even here this early?”

“Couldn’t sleep.  Figured you might not be able to either.”

Kitty nodded.  “And now I get to deal with meddling friends who don’t get the concept of boundaries on no sleep.  This will be fun.  You should film it.”

“If you want…..Blaine told me about this great dinner in Westerfield that apparently has the best breakfast in all of Ohio?  We could leave now...text everyone when we get there and just get away from them all?”

“That...that actually sounds perfect.  Give me five minutes?”

“All the time you want.”

 


	39. Chapter 38

It was a rare morning when Jake was able to have breakfast with his mom.  During the summer, the tips were better on the breakfast shift and twice a week he had an 8am class to teach.  But his mom was working a wedding tonight and he didn’t have classes on Sunday.  So he bent to kiss the top of her head as he sat down with his bowl of cereal, making a grab for the funny pages while she kept reading the real estate section.  

“I saw Tina came in second.” His mom commented, her eyes not leaving the listings.

“Yeah but she killed the talent competition.” Jake smiled.  “So when you write my college applications you can put award winning choreographer on there now.”

“I’m sure Juilliard will find that very impressive.” His mom said slowly, folding the paper in half before looking at him from across the table.  Jake sat staring at her, blinking slowly and his spoon halfway to his mouth.  His mom shoved the Juilliard brochure across the table towards him.  “You planning on telling me about this at any point in the near future? And shut your mouth. You look like you’re trying to catch flies”

In the crunch of preparing his classes for their recital, the pageant, last night with Kitty and Tina, Jake had forgotten about Juilliard.  Or at least forgotten about the brochure.  “I was going to tell you about it.”

“Before or after you auditioned?”

“I wasn’t even thinking about that.” Jake pushed his cereal bowl off to the side.  “It’s something Diana gave me. I haven’t even really looked at it”  

“Honey if there is one thing you inherited from me and not your father, its the fact you are a lousy liar.”  His mom tapped the glossy pages under her finger.  “There’s folded over pages in there kiddo.  You want to revise that statement?”

“Are you sure you weren’t really a lawyer?”

“In another life maybe.”  His mom smiled as she picked up her coffee cup and took a long sip.  “Start from the beginning.”

Rubbing his eyebrow, Jake let out a sigh. “Diana gave it to me.  She thinks I should think about it.I looked at it but don’t worry I’m not going to try out. I’ll throw it out”

He reached out to take the brochure away but his mom pulled it back towards her. “And why would you not even audition?”

“Because you want me to go to college?”

“And this isn’t a college?”

“Mom”

“Don’t you _mom_ me.  I have not busted my ass for tips to keep you in dance lessons for you to _mom_ me about this.”  

“I’m not going to be able to support you if I go to school for dance.”

“When did I ask you to support me?  Honey from the second I found out the truth about your father I haven’t depended on anyone to support me but me. And you know that. So try again. Why wouldn’t you even think about auditioning?”

“Well one I’d never even get called to audition.”

“Says who?  You’re the best dancer Diana’s ever seen.  She’s told me that herself. Would I be busting my hump all the time for your dance lessons if I didn’t think you could do something with this?”

“It’s not like Diana’s had much to choose to from.” Jake argued.  “And you’re my mom.  You are biologically required to say I’m good.”  

“I’ve never lied to you a day in your life and I’m not going to start now.  If you weren’t good you would have never done all the choreographing with glee club this year. And Tina would have never asked you to help her with her pageant.  And didn’t you just tell me she won the talent portion?”

Ok so his mom had a point about Tina. But like he was going to tell her that.  Instead Jake just rolled his eyes.  “Even if I did get an audition they only take like 12 people a year for the dance program.  12.”

“And NYADA takes 24 and three of your classmates have gone there in the past two years.”

“How do you know about NYADA?”

His mom shrugged her shoulders.  “You think I only just now considered the possibility of a performing arts college for you?  Jacob I was there when you started dancing in the living room to my old Michael Jackson records.  I’m the one who took you to your first ballet class.  I wasn’t sleeping through all your recitals all these years.”

Jake reached across the table, grabbing the booklet from under his mom’s fingers.  He flipped to the financial aid section, turning it towards his mom.  “It’s way too expensive. We can’t afford it.”

She pulled the book towards her, her eyes scanning the information.  Closing it, she pushed it to the side of the table.  “You’re right. It is expensive.  And I’m still waitressing.  But I will not be doing that forever.  I still have my real estate license.  You think I’m reading the listings out of some sad nostalgia?  Sweetheart I’m trying to figure out if the market is stable enough for me to try to go back to it.  And your college fund was never huge but it’s still there.  And if this is what you want? I’ll figure out a way to make it work.”

“Mom I don’t want you to do that.  I don’t want you working at that place just for me.  I can go to school in Lima.”

“And if that’s what I thought you really wanted? I would be fine with that. But I know you Jacob.  And I don’t think it is.  What I want to know is do you want this?  Do you want Juilliard?”

Jake blinked at his mom. “I want you to not quote _Save the Last Dance_ , cause that’s really lame.”

Balling up a napkin, she threw it at his head as the doorbell rang.  “You didn’t used to think it was so lame. I remember someone telling me they wanted to be Derek when they grew up.” she called out as she went to the front door

“I was 6.” Jake protested, turning to get his abandoned cereal bowl.  He still didn’t think it was the most feasible idea ever but if his mother wanted him to think about it, he’d think about it.

“What happened when you were six?”  

Jake turned to see Tina coming into the kitchen, followed by his mother.  Tina’s hair flowed loose down past her shoulders, still wet from her shower this morning.  She stood pulling on the ends of the hoodie she had borrowed from him last night.  

After leaving Kitty’s, they ended up driving around while she worked out what to say to Blaine and Sam.  She hadn’t wanted to tell them Kitty’s business (“Even I have standards on what news to tell” she had told him seriously) but she knew if she didn’t tell them something they would start to worry.  

They ended up at the park, sitting on the swings while Tina called Blaine and Sam.  He was still convinced Tina hadn’t convinced either of one of them a single bit that nothing was wrong (She really was awful about pretending to be ok when she wasn’t.)  but he wasn’t going to worry about it until Blaine or Sam either called him to find out what was going or showed up out of the blue for a weekend in Lima.  After they sat together on top of a picnic table, talking quietly about the night.  

“Nothing happened when I was six.” Jake insisted.  

“Tina, congratulations on last night.” His mom smiled as she moved to clear her coffee cup and plate.

“Thank you.” Tina smiled.  “I couldn’t have done it without Jake.”

“You’re sweet.”  His mom patted Tina’s shoulder as she moved to the sink.  Depositing her dishes into the sink, she grabbed a towel to wipe her hands.  “Oh before I forget.  Tina? Sweetheart?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Since you are the only girl I’ve seen my son with or talk about in the past two months I’m going to assume that was your bra I found in his gym bag?”

She barely paused as Tina’s eyes widened and Jake would swear his heart stopped.

“I’ll take that as a yes.  I washed it so it’s back in his bag. Make sure you take that home tonight ok?  And Jacob?  Make sure you’re home for dinner tonight.  You and I need have to another little talk.”

Jake was pretty sure both he and Tina had stopped breathing as his mom walked passed them and picked up her purse from the where she had thrown it on the couch.  “You kids have fun today.”


	40. Chapter 39

“One would think since we have connections, we’d score a better table.” Unique sighed as she leaned back against her chair.  Not that the table by the window wasn’t nice (She would never understand the appeal of jogging but she did understand the appeal of watching shirtless joggers go by) but their usual spot on the couches were just so much more comfortable.  

“I’ve got my eye on those interlopers” Matt promised her with a wink. “The second they get up, I’m sending Ryder over.”

“Why are you sending me?” Ryder wondered before taking a sip of his coffee.  He offered a piece of his blueberry muffin to Unique. She shook her head with a smile.

“You’re way faster than me.” Matt shrugged easily.  “You’re awfully quiet this morning.” He nudged Marley’s shoulder.

“Just tired.” She smiled slightly.  “It was a long night.”

“As my Aunt Rosalind says, a human being should not be up late enough to see owls go to bed.” Unique nodded.

“I’ve got to meet your aunt so I can figure out what all those things mean.” Ryder shook his head.

“One does not question Aunt Rosalind’s wisdom.”

“I’ll be fine.” Marley said quietly to Matt. “Kitty feeling ok enough to go to breakfast with Artie helps. It helps a lot.  I’ll take a nap later before I have to help my mom at work and I’ll be ok.”

“And I’ll be better once I see Miss Kitty and tell her I in no way believe she didn’t remember to text all of us until 20 minutes ago.  She and Artie planned that.  I don’t rearrange my beauty sleep for just anyone as she well knows.”

“You’ll tackle her to the ground with a hug and then you’ll forgive her on the spot.” Ryder teased.  “You’d do more than rearrange your beauty sleep for her and we all know it.”

“A fact Kitty does not need to know for the next twenty four hours.”

“I’m just glad she and Artie are talking.” Matt added, sliding a piece of his bagel on to Marley’s plate.  “He’s my boy but keeping him from killing you Ryder was a full time job.  It’s summer. I don’t want to work that hard.”

“Artie wouldn’t have killed him.” Tina said as she approached the table, hesitation in her step. Jake trailed behind her.  “He thinks cutting someone out of his inevitable Oscar speech is a greater punishment.”

“So far I’m out of the Golden Globes, the Emmy, the Tony and the Oscar speeches.” Ryder held up a finger for each award.  “But I still get tickets so I count that as a win.”

“Marley?” Tina asked quietly, putting her cup down on the table as Jake pulled up two chairs.  “Can we…..”

“Yeah.” Marley nodded quickly, her eyes darting anywhere but on Jake and Tina.  Ryder and Matt exchanged confused glances while Unique tried (and failed) to not look like she knew something was about to happen.  “Outside?”

“Outside.” Tina agreed.

Everyone but Jake watched the two girls walked towards the door.  Once he was satisfied Tina was out of earshot, Ryder punched Jake in the arm.  “What is going on dude?”

“Why do you think I know about it?”

“Boy you couldn’t be more in the middle of this than if you were my matchmaking aunt in the middle of a singles convention.” Unique shook her head in his direction, fixing her best not impressed glare on him.

Jake stared at her, before sighing. “She told you.”

“Of course she told me.  I know your momma did not raise stupid.  But I’m not telling the rest of it.”

“Are you following any of this?” Ryder asked Matt.

“None.”

“Good. I thought it was just me.” Ryder leaned back in his chair.  “Who told Unique what?”

“It’s your story Romeo.” Unique waved her hand at the boys.

“Ok. Fine. Tina and I have kind of been…..” Jake paused searching for the right word.  They were doing something but they hadn’t even decided what it was or if they were even calling it anything.  Maybe Tina had a point that they really needed to talk about this.  “We’ve been seeing each other. Tina wanted to tell Marley and Marley walked on us last night.”

“Walked in on you….” Ryder paused to wiggle his eyebrows.

“No.” Jake punched his best friend in the arm.  He really didn’t want to get into how close they probably had been to that when Marley walked in.  “Pervert.  We were kissing.”

“Well. That explains…..some things.” Matt said slowly before looking in the direction Tina and Marley had gone.  Just outside the entrance he could see both of the girls talking, the distance making their faces impossible to read.  

Marley had been quiet last night but he had assumed that was due to the situation with Kitty.  But she was still quiet this morning when he and Ryder had come to Unique’s to pick the girls up.  She had barely eaten and had spent more time looking out the window than joining in the conversation with the rest of them.  He didn’t want to think she had been lying when she said she was still worried about Kitty but now…

He didn’t know all the details of Jake and Marley’s break up but he did know it wasn’t because one of them lost interest in the other.  And he may not have been in McKinley long but he was familiar with the revolving door that seemed to accompany most relationships.  He hadn’t wanted to be a part of that when he was in the choir room and had thought the move allowed him to escape that fate.

Now he was starting to wonder if he had escaped it all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tina stopped a few feet from the front door of the Lima Bean and turned to face Marley.  Marley tucked her hair behind her ear, her eyes looking through the glass to see if their friends were looking at them from the table.  “Look Marley….”

“How long?”  Marley asked quickly, her eyes suddenly making contact with Tina’s.  “When I was crying about him cheating on me with Bree? Was this going on then?”

“What? No.  Marley.  This whole thing just….started a couple of weeks ago.”

“A couple of weeks ago?”

“The night I went to Dayton?  Jake was there with some guys from the basketball team.  We’d been spending all this time together because of the pageant and that night..I don’t know.  Something just happened.”

“And last night? Did that just happen too?”

“If you mean did I plan to make out with him backstage? No I didn’t.  But was it the first time we’d been together since Dayton? No.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Marley whispered.  

“I wanted to.  At first I thought it might be just a one time thing.  And if it was just one time I convinced myself I didn’t need to tell you.  And then when it clearly wasn’t a one time thing, I just didn’t know how to tell you.  You can ask Blaine.  He told me to tell you after the first time.”

“Blaine knew?”

“And Sam. But Sam was only because he was there when I was Skyping with Blaine.  Don’t be mad at them. They told me to tell you.”

“I’m not mad.” Marley sighed.  “I don’t know what I am exactly but I’m not mad.  It’s not like Jake and I were together and I’m with Matt.  And I want you both to be happy.”  She let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. “Yesterday was kind of a lot.”

“Yeah.” Tina agreed.  “Don’t want a repeat of it any time soon.”

“I wish you would have told me earlier.”

“Same here.  I didn’t know what to say and I didn’t want to hurt you.I know it’s an excuse but it’s true.”

“Yeah.  I can understand that.”  Marley bit her lower lip.  “Look I’m sure the guys know by now and I told Unique this morning.  She’s probably texting Kitty as we speak.  And I know they are going to want details.  Just could you not share while I’m there?  Not yet at least?  This whole friend dating your ex thing is really weird  and I know you guys did it all the time last year but…”

“No I get it.  Watching Artie and Brittany start dating threw me for a loop and I dumped him so I get it.  Are we going to be ok?”

Marley nodded slightly.  “Yeah I think so. Just give me some time to get used to this idea?”

“I can do that.”

****  
  



	41. Chapter 40

“If you tell anyone this I will destroy you, but this is actually not as lame as I always thought it would be.” Kitty tried to hide the smile on her face behind her hair but Artie caught it. He returned it with one of his own.  

“The walk in the woods is a staple of Hollywood movies for a reason.  I think the last actual woods in the greater Lima area was bulldozed for a mini mall before I was born but this is a good substitution.”

The diner had been as good as Artie promised and if the rest of their friends didn’t entirely believe her when she had texted she “forgot” to tell them she wasn’t going to be home in the morning, they at least had the good sense to not call her on it.  (Although she fully realized the second Unique saw her that would be all over.) Over breakfast, Artie had kept up a steady stream of conversation about the latest rumors about the Marvel film universe and the pictures of the apartment Sam had finally found.  He had avoided any possible opportunity to bring up the previous night and she loved him for it.  But she did realize they couldn’t avoid the subject forever (much as she might want to) so when he had suggested going to a nearby park after breakfast, she had agreed.

There was something peaceful about walking in a park where there was no chance of running into anyone they knew.  Her friends may be co-dependent losers at times but she was still pretty confident none of them had figured out how to use cell phone GPS to actually track someone. Well Joe probably could but Joe was off on that mission trip still and he probably had some hippie Jesus reason for not tracking people via their cell phone.  Kitty let out a small sigh.  She might as well bite the bullet and get it over with. It’s not like Artie would just not talk about it until he wanted to use it for inspiration for a screenplay.

“Look Artie….you’ve been great today and….”

“No wait.” Artie rolled himself to a stop in front of her, pushing his glasses up his nose.  “Stop.  I didn’t bring you out here to force a conversation out of you.”

“Isn’t that what always happens in the movies?  After the walk in the woods? A long heart to heart talk?”

“As we previously noted we are deviating from the script here.” Artie gestured towards the playground where they could hear kids laughing already.  “I meant what I said earlier.  If you want to talk I’ll listen but if you don’t want to, then I can deal.”

“You?  You can deal?”  Kitty shot him an unimpressed look.  “Tina just barely beats you out as biggest gossip and we both know it.”

“I know we covered earlier that I’ve been a jerk lately.  Tina will be glad to tell you I can be a jerk a lot of the time.  But the thing about me is I’m never a jerk in the same way twice. So the next time I’ll piss you off it will be in a whole new and exciting way.”

“Something to look forward to.”    She lowered herself, balancing on the heels of her feet to meet Artie’s eyes.  “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Artie smiled.  “But you’re back now.”

“I don’t know how back I am but I’m here.”  Kitty shrugged, looking over towards the playground for a second.  “You do realize you need to tell Ryder you’re sorry for being an asshole right?”

“Ryder’s my boy. We’re cool.  Guys don’t do apologies.”

“That sounds like the dumbass stuff Jake’s brother would tell him.”  Kitty shook her head as she stood up.  “He’s been a good friend and you’ve been trying to murder him.”

“I’ve not been trying to murder him. Plotting about it? Maybe. But I didn’t actually do anything.”

“I appreciate a good murder plot as much as the next girl but I have had enough drama this summer.  Apologize so he’ll stop looking like a kicked puppy all the time.  It makes me break out in a rash.”

“I think that’s more thanks to Unique than me but fine. I’ll apologize even though Ryder and I have an understanding.”

“An understanding?”  Kitty felt her phone vibrate against her hip.  Fishing it out of the pockets of her short she rolled her eyes at her ridiculous boyfriend.  “If you call it an unspoken understanding I’m calling Blaine and telling him you finally realized you play both sides.”

“Woman you just do not understand the deep and complex nature of male friendships.”

“Oh sweet baby Jesus in the manger. We need to get back to Lima.” Her eyes widened as she re-read Unique’s texts.  “I’m serious we need to go.”

“What? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? What’s wrong is Tina and Jake are hooking up and Marley just found out about it and I need details now.”

“You need details and I need to get my camera.  Lead on woman.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Tina Cohen-Chang.” Kurt’s voice barked at her across the phone lines before she had a chance to even say hello.  “What did you tell Blaine and Sam last night?  I need to know because they are diving into Diva Off levels of drama right now. What….Mercedes…”

“Ignore him.” Mercedes’s voice cut through even though Tina could still hear Kurt protesting in the background for Mercedes to give him back his phone.  “He’s just put out probably because Blaine didn’t put out last night waiting to for you to text him  back.”

“Mercedes.” Tina smiled.  “How are you?”

“Oh you know. Fabulous like always.  What about you girl?  You need to spill all the gossip I’m missing out on.  And ignore Kurt.  Blaine and Sam are fine.  They’re a little wound up but I think that’s just normal when they are together.  Kurt just needs to learn to deal.”

“I am the reason why they are so wound up.” Tina sighed.  “It been a weird couple of days here.”

“So I’ve heard.  Congratulations Miss Runner Up.”  

“Thanks.” Tina leaned against the back of her chair.  The rest of the group had gone their separate ways after they finished breakfast.  Unique had dragged Marley off with her while Matt watched them with confusion in his face. Ryder was behind the counter working his shift and Jake had promised to help at an open house at the dance studio with Matt.  “But that’s not what’s been weird.”

“I smell a story.  Spill.”

“There’s something going on with Kitty that I really can’t tell you and I know that’s driving Blaine and Sam crazy.  And I’ve may have been seeing Jake Puckerman for the past month and Marley found out before I could tell her.”

“Hold up. You’ve been seeing the Puckerman I would hit like the angry hand of God if he wasn’t underage?  And you didn’t tell me?”

“Tina’s seeing a Puckerman? Jake?”  She could hear the excited squeak in Kurt’s voice even in the background.  “Put her on speaker because she is holding out.  And is that what you told Blaine not to tell me?”

“Yes?”

“Sam too.” Mercedes snapped her fingers.  “Ok. You are on speaker. Now start from the beginning and don’t leave out a detail.  Because I’m sure those two nerds we’re seeing over here didn’t want to hear a single delicious thing.”

“God I miss you guys.”

“I don’t see how when you’ve been so _busy_ lately.” Mercedes teased.  “Now start singing girl and I don’t mean the kind you do on stage.”


	42. Chapter 41

If it was a normal day, Unique would have never agreed to this meeting.  She had a hard and fast rule about not going to the same place in the same outfit.  When Marley pressed her about this once, she had made a joke about her fabulousness needed to be seen a maximum number of people in a single day. (After all she had a firm rule about not repeating an outfit for a minimum of two weeks.)  In reality she was more than a little convinced that if she didn’t come back to the same place twice, then there was less of a chance for some of the more unevolved elements of Lima’s population to decide they wanted to follow her home and not for fashion tips.  

But this was not a normal day. Not a normal weekend, not a normal week and with the way everything was unfolding not even a normal month.  So when Kitty had texted her back asking to meet her at the Lima Bean, Unique didn’t have the heart to insist on a later time or another place.  After all, her second hard and fast rule as true friends were rare and worth everything.  It  may have taken some time, but Kitty was her friend.  If she wanted to meet at the Lima Bean after everything she had thrown at her in the past two days, then Unique was going to meet her at the Lima Bean.

She just wasn’t exactly prepared to see Ryder still working when she arrived.  When they had all left after the Truth Telling Breakfast, she could have sworn he had said he was working through the lunch rush. Which meant he should be gone by now.  He certainly should not be waving to her from where he stood wiping down a table.  

Clutching her coffee in her hand, she couldn’t help but smile as she moved towards him.  It was a natural instinct she was discovering, smiling when she near him.  Also included in that instinct was the urge to push his hair out of his eyes and hold on to that lovely bicep when they walked side by side.  And she couldn’t deny she had missed him these past few days.  It wasn’t until she didn’t see him constantly that she realized just how much time she had been spending with him.  Without him bouncing up to her to drag her off to do something or to text her whatever random question jumped into his head during his shift, her days had been downright boring.

God they really had been dating hadn’t they? Marley was never going to let her live this one down.

“I thought you worked this morning? What are you doing here?”

Ryder shrugged, tossing the rag he had wiped down the table with over his shoulder.  “Micah didn’t show and I didn’t have any other plans.  What about you?”

“Kitty wanted to meet me here. Of course she’s running late.” Unique rolled her eyes good naturedly as she sat down.  Ryder followed suit.  Seeing her raised eyebrows, he smiled.

“I’m done in like five minutes.  And since I kinda saved her butt, Mindy isn’t going to say anything.”

“You say that every time you sit down with us.  One of these days they are going to mind.”

“But by then you’ll be rich and famous and I can be part of your entourage.” He tapped a finger to the side of his forehead.  “I’ve got it all worked out.”

Against her better judgement, Unique could feel herself blush at the compliment.  “Why do you do that?” she asked softly

“Do what?”

“Be all sweet and flirty when you don’t mean it?” Seeing him about to protest, she held up her hand to silence him. “Don’t even try to deny it. And I specifically remember telling you to stop that.”

“You did.” Ryder agreed sheepishly.  “I honestly don’t realize I’m doing it.  I always think I’m treating you like the rest of the girls.”

“Sweetheart I hate to break this to you but you flirt with all of us.  You are just as bad as Blaine and Jake are. It’s just a little more obvious with them that they don’t mean it.  You just seem to be doing it with me more often than anyone else.”

She cut him off again with a wave of her hand. “I know. I know. You don’t mean to.  But it makes me think things.  You make other people think things and those other people like to talk.  And point out things like Katie and how you felt about her.”

“Unique, come on. We’re past all that. We’re friends.”

“You keep saying that but you don’t act like it.”

Ryder opened his mouth to respond when Kitty and Artie appeared at the side of the table.  “Oh did we interrupt your date?” Kitty wondered looking between the two of them.

Unique gestured to Kitty as if to tell Ryder _See?_.  To Kitty she merely smiled. “You interrupted nothing but me about to remind you that while I appreciate a fashionable entrance, you do not make a queen such as myself wait.”

“Sorry.” Kitty pushed her hair off her shoulder before shooting Artie a pointed look.  “I had script approval over an important scene and it needed to be perfect.”

“You’re really going to make me do this now? Here?” Artie waved his hand over the table.  “This is not the atmosphere I was going for.”

“It’s the atmosphere you’re going to get.”

Ryder and Unique shared confused looks before Ryder raised his hands.  “Guys? What’s going on?”

Artie pushed himself closer to Ryder. “Ryder, I owe you an apology.”

“Dude I told you the other day that you didn’t….”

“I know but I’ve been told I do need to apologize.  I was an ass and you were being a good friend to Kitty.  I’m sorry for theoretically planning your murder, running into you and that one time when we all thought I had actually broke your toe.”

“You already apologized for that.”

“I may have had my fingers crossed.”

“Are you actually five years old?” Kitty asked, disbelief on her face.

“I appreciate the apology Artie but we’re cool.” Ryder nodded.  “I mean the apology was nice and all but you know we were cool before that right?”

“I tried to tell her that but girls you know?” Artie shrugged.

“Oh my God. Go be boys elsewhere.” Kitty groaned. “I have had my fill of testerone for the day.”

“I’m off anyway.  Artie you want to Halo tourney?” Ryder offered as he stood up.

“You’ll be ok?” Artie cast a quick look to Kitty.

She smiled at him softly. “Yeah.  I need to talk to Unique. She’ll get me home.”

“Or she’ll come to my place..  We have so much talk about.” Unique said seriously.  

“Alright I’m in. I’ll meet you outside” Artie nodded to Ryder before the other boy walked off to clock out.  He looked at Kitty and tapped his cheek.  

Still smiling Kitty leaned over and kissed him.  “Thank you for today.”

“Any time.  I mean it.” Artie looked over at Unique.  “I will leave you ladies to your important discussion.”

“Bye darling.” Unique trilled as Artie made his way out of the coffee shop.  Once he exited, she looked over at Kitty. “How are you really?”

“Better?  A little? Arthur was really great today and exactly what I needed him to be.” Kitty shrugged her shoulders as she sat in the seat Ryder vacated.  “But right now I’d much rather talk about this Tina-Jake thing.”

“Girlfriend you better get yourself another cup because we are going to be up all night to discuss this situation.”

“Oh now it’s a situation?”

“It is when Marley is as flipped out about this as she is.”

“I keep telling all of you. We need to date outside of the choir room.  I’d tell you to stop with Ryder for your own sanity but clearly that ship has sailed.”

“There is no ship sailing.”  Ryder came out from the back, waving in their direction as he went outside to meet Artie.  Unique and Kitty waved back before Unique took a long sip of her coffee.  “It’s hard to have a ship sailing when someone keeps forgetting to tie the ship off at the dock.”

“Sounds like I missed more than I thought.  How out of the loop was I?”  Kitty wondered.

“Not that bad.  I promise you if something major had happened you would have been told immediately. I’ve seen Tina’s information phone tree.  I know what your position is.”

“Speaking of Tina.” Kitty leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.  “How much do we know?”

“Sadly not much.” Unique sighed.  “Tina and Marley had a big heart to heart this morning so I was here with Jake, Ryder and Matt.  And you can imagine how helpful those two were in trying to get details out of Jake.”

“We’ve got to train them better.”

“Girlfriend, when you decide to speak the truth you sing it.”

“So we have no details from Jake which is not surprising.  Unlike his brother he never was one to kiss and tell.  Marley’s being weird?”  Kitty paused to see Unique nod.  “What about Tina?”

“From what little Jake did tell me, she seems more worried about Marley and not telling her about them.”

“So if we corner Tina for details, she’ll feel weird that we’re asking her without Marley there. And Marley will feel bad that she’s making us choose sides or something because she’s too nice like that.  Which means we need to find an alternative source of information.”

“Blaine and Sam?”  Unique asked.

“Oh you know they know everything.  If they were in town I’d say we could just get them drunk and they would tell us everything.”  Kitty shuddered. “I really hope we have a new school nurse because I did not need to know that about the nurse’s office.”

“I’m never going in that room again.” Unique agreed.  “Finish your coffee. We’ll go to my house and see if any of our New York brethren are on Skype.  Someone there knows the details I know it.  And as our friends, they are obligated to tell us everything.”


	43. Chapter 42

“You’re awfully quiet.” Kurt kicked his foot from where he had it on the couch, nudging Blaine in the thigh.  It was a rare night when they were alone in the loft.  Sam and Mercedes were on one of their _it’s totally not a date_ dates.  (He had tried to convince Mercedes when she first moved  here that she and Sam weren’t fooling anyone but it was no use.  Currently he was deciding which unimpressed face he should give them when they finally decided to come clean with what everyone already knew.)  Rachel had a night shift at the diner.  He had seen Santana earlier in the day but she had mentioned something about Brittany and trains so he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to see her for the rest of the night.  

When he realized that Blaine’s last piano lesson was at 4 and his shift at the diner ended at 4:30, Kurt may have done a little excited shimmy in the breakroom.  He had visions of a quiet candlelight dinner, maybe some singing together at the piano or a walk in the park before the night shift drug dealers started working.  And then pulling the privacy curtain shut before anyone else got home.

Not that he was turning into a sex addict (no matter what Rachel, Mercedes, Sam and their neighbor downstairs said) but he had assumed when he came home and found only his fiance there that their evening would be a little more vocal.  And not just from duet practice.  

But when he got home from work, he found Blaine on Skype with Unique and Kitty.  And his fiance had been distracted ever since.  And not in a _my fiance’s so hot I can’t concentrate on anything else_ way. (Ok maybe he was turning into a sex addict.  His fiance was hot and they lived together.  Kurt was not about to be sorry about it)

“Sorry.” Blaine smiled as he pulled Kurt’s feet into his lap, pulling off his shoes and starting to massage them.  “I just keep thinking there is something else going on back home that Unique and Kitty weren’t telling me.”

“Something about Tina?”

“No.” Blaine shook his head.  “No I know far too much about what’s going on with Tina.  And whatever it is I think Tina’s keeping it from me too.  She was weird on the phone the other night.”

“Tina’s always weird. It’s part of her charm.” Kurt pointed out before letting out a whimper as Blaine’s fingers hit a particularly sensitive spot. “I talked with Tina today and she seemed fine.  A little weirded out about the whole Marley walking in on her and Jake situation but that’s not unusual considering.”

“Yeah. No I don’t think it’s about that. I should call Marley this week and see how she’s doing.  For some reason I think it’s about Kitty.”

“Kitty? She seemed full of her usual brand of bluster and misplaced bravado.” Kurt closed his eyes. “Oh yeah. Right there.  Forget NYADA. You should just be my personal masseuse.”

“Would that mean you would only wear a bathrobe around the loft?”

“If you said yes and I could rotate it with the seasons then yes whatever you want.”

“I’ll think about it.” Blaine smiled.  “No I know Kitty seemed ok but I guess you don’t know her like I do.  She didn’t make one joke about my hair and I’m pretty sure that’s never happened.”

Kurt couldn’t claim he knew Kitty well (He liked her a lot more than he let on and he had a feeling if they were ever in the same town for longer than a few days she would probably become his new favorite reality TV snarking partner) but even he knew her well enough to know something was off with that.  “Did she say something was wrong?”

“No.” Blaine admitted. “But I’m also pretty sure she wouldn’t tell me.” He waved his hand in the air.  “Forget I’m just being silly. I’m sure everything is fine.”

“You’re not being silly. You’re being a friend.” Kurt corrected, nudging his foot further into Blaine’s hand. He tilted his head to the side. “Isn’t your grandparent’s anniversary party coming up?”

“Yeah...what does that have to do….”

“You may be closer to Kitty than I am but I have noticed her birthday on your calendar.  It’s around the same time of your grandparents’ party.  And we both know it’s not that long of a drive from Columbus down to Lima.”

Smiling broadly Blaine pulled Kurt by his feet closer to him.  “You’re the best you know that?” He asked quietly before kissing him.

“So you’ve said.” Kurt smiled when he pulled back.  “But feel free to expand on that thought process in our room.  As you give me a back massage.”

Laughing Blaine wiggled his fingers.  “Well then let’s go.  We don’t have that much more time before everyone comes back.”

~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

****  
  


Andrea Clark took a slow sip from the glass of wine she had poured herself after dinner.  She didn’t drink often (couldn’t afford to do it most of the time) but if any occassion required alcohol, she figured having a discussion with her 16 year old son about his apparently active sex life was at the top of the list.

Jake stood over the kitchen sinking finishing up the dishes, his go to stalling move when he didn’t want to discuss something with her.  It wasn’t that Jake didn’t help around the home usually, he just dragged his feet when it came to doing dishes.  When he was 8 he had attempted to convince her using paper plates were better for the environment.  So whenever he volunteered to do the dishes, Andrea had learned he was avoiding talking to her about something.  She hadn’t seen it in months though. The last time was when he and his brother had decided to throw an incredibly awkward Christmas dinner for their families.  It had turned out fine but she was still going to hold it over his head until he was at least 30.

“You know as well as I do that those pans are not that great.  All that scrubbing you’re doing isn’t going to make them look new.” She pointed out before taking another sip.  “You might as well stop stalling and sit down so we can talk.”

“I’m not stalling.” Jake grumbled but he put the pan in the drying rack, wiping his hands on a towel before sitting down.  “Do we really have to talk about this?”

“Since my life plan does not include being a grandmother before you graduate high school?  Yes we do.”    Andrea put her glass down and leaned forward on her elbows.  “How long has this been going on between you and Tina?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Jake looked off to the side at a spot of dried Easter Egg dye from a long ago holiday they had never managed to get up.  “A few weeks.”

She squeezed the bridge of her nose and forced herself to breathe. She chewed on her tongue to keep from making a comment about his father because there was no way bringing him up would end well.  “Are you being safe or do we have to have that discussion again?”

“Mom.”

“No. You lost the right to mom me when I found Tina’s underwear in your laundry. Which by the way you’re supposed to do so don’t think I’ve forgotten about that either.  I was just fine living in denial.”

“I’m always safe.”

“I’m not ready to discuss always with you yet.  We’ll come back to that later.”  Andrea took a deep breath and looked at her son.  With his shoulders hunched forward and his eyes refusing to look at her, she was having flashbacks to having to give him The Talk.  It was nearly as embarrassing as this was but they had gotten through it and they could get through this.  “Look I’m not mad at you.  You’re 16 and I know what I was doing when I was your age.”

“Oh. Mom.” Jake made a disgusted face. “I really didn’t need to know that information.”

“It’s better than you thinking my first experience was your father because no woman deserves that.”

“Can we please move on to whatever your point is before I run away and move in with Ryder?”

“My point is that I’m not mad at you. I just didn’t appreciate finding out you had a new girlfriend and it was serious that way.  I want to meet any girl you’re serious about, just like I met Marley.  Now I know Tina a little from glee club but if she’s a part of your life I want to get to know her better.”

“We’re not...I mean….we’re not serious. Tina’s leaving at the end of summer.”

“At your age? It’s always serious when sex is involved.  Even if it’s not to you? It is to me.  I don’t care if she’s leaving in 48 hours. You are to bring her to this house and I’m going to get to know her.  I will not have any son of mine see some girl and I don’t know who she is. It’s not respectful to me and it’s not respectful to her.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am.”   She caught the guilty look that flashed over Jake’s face.  Her son liked to think he could keep people from knowing what he was thinking but he was actually pretty easy to read.  There was something more going on, she was sure of it.   

“Anything else we need to talk about?”

“No. I mean Puck emailed me about spending Fall Break with him this year but I’m pretty sure you didn’t mean that.”

“Yes. One thing for me to worry about at a time.”  She’d give him some time. Jake was a good kid. He got in his own way more often than not and that chip he used to have on his shoulder was a little smaller now that he had his friends and brother in his life.  He’d come to her eventually.  She was sure of it.  “Now call Tina and tell her she’s to come to dinner tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“As you said she’s leaving soon so no time like the present to get to know each other.”


	44. Chapter 43

Spotting Marley sitting under the tree by the basketball court, Jake debated on whether he should go and talk to her.  They were doing better at the friends but that was before this whatever it was with Tina started.  Tina had said her talk with Marley had gone ok but Jake could tell it was still worrying her.  And even if they had been doing better at being around each other, he still didn’t feel as comfortable around Marley as he used to.  Of course that could also be connected to the entire hooking up with her friend without her knowing it situation.  

Plus he could see her earbuds where in and she was writing in one of her songwriting notebooks.  He could even see her singing along with whatever she was listening to.  It would be really easy to walk on by her and claim he just hadn’t seen her.  After the conversation with his mom last night he wasn’t sure he had another long heart to heart in him.  It wouldn’t be the first time he had gone out of his way to avoid an awkward situation after all.

On the court, a guy Jake recognized as a sophomore on the JV team went to take his shot.  It went wide, missing the basket and landing with a thump in front of Marley’s feet before bouncing right on to her open notebook. Startled, she looked up yanking the earbuds out of her ears.  Jake could see the other boy blushing as he waved an apology.  Marley tossed the ball back, shaking her head before reaching for her earbuds.  Her hand froze as she caught sight of Jake.

He offered a small wave and Marley returned a slightly guarded smile.  Jake made his way over towards the tree.  He had to go over now. It’d be way too obvious now if he ran in the other direction.

“Nice catch.” he smiled as he sat down across from her.

“Yeah. You know me.  Basketball all star.” Marley laughed lightly as she rubbed the spot behind her right ear.  

“You’d do better than him.” Jake pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the court.

“I think that says more about McKinley’s athletic department than my actual skill level.” She closed her notebook with a definitive clap.  “So this isn’t awkward at all.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Marley pushed him with the toe of her shoe. “Shut up.  You and Tina.”

“Oh. That.” Jake looked over to the side.  The grass was really very interesting now that he thought about it.

“Yes. _That_.” Marley put her notebook off to the side.  “This can’t be any more awkward than Ryder asking me out in front of everyone before everyone knew we broke up.”

Jake tilted his head to look at her. “You sure about that?”

“I mean it’s not like you had a crush on Tina the entire time we were dating and secretly wanted me to be more like her.”  Marley paused as she thought about what she just said. “You didn’t right?”

“No.  I don’t even think Tina and I were really friends until after prom and everything.  Just we started hanging out this summer and she wanted my help with the pageant.  I don’t know. Something just clicked.”

“Yeah. That’s what Tina said.” Marley nodded quickly.  “You know you smile when you talk about her?”

“What? I do not.”

“You do.  I guess I just realized how long it’s been since I’ve seen you smile like that.”  Her smiled turned sad.  “How I used to make you smile like that.”

“Marley..”  Jake reached out to take her hand.

Marley waved him off. “No. I’m fine. I didn’t say that for pity or to make you feel bad.  It’s just a fact.  We’ve been over for a long time now and I’m with Matt.  And he’s great.”

“If he wasn’t I’d beat him up for you.”

“Stop it.  Tina’s my friend and she’s great. It seems like she makes you happy.” She looked at him expectantly.  Jake shrugged his shoulders, unwilling to give an answer one way or the other.  Or at least until Tina survived dinner with his mom.  “I want you to be happy Jake.” Marley continued.  “It’s weird now but I think we can do this. Be friends?”

“All this and you think we can be friends?”

“If the rest of New Directions was able to manage it, then I think we have to be. We have a legacy to uphold.”

“You are about two seconds from sounding like a Sam pep talk. We have to rethink this friends thing.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Tina. Wait up.” Matt yelled across the parking lot before jogging to catch up with her at the entrance to the park.  Tina smiled as she waited, absentmindedly playing the ends of the pigtail braids she had done this morning.

“You look way to dress up to be hanging out in the park.” Tina commented gesturing to his polo and khakis.  It wouldn’t be out of place if it was Blaine meeting her but she was fairly sure she hadn’t seen Matt in anything other than jeans or cargo shorts since summer started.

“I’m meeting Marley by the basketball courts.  My aunt is insisting on the three of us going out to lunch together.”

“Family audition.” Tina nodded as they started walking.  “I’m doing that with Jake’s mom tonight.  If I don’t die from embarrassment first.”

“Do I want to know why that would happen?”

“Probably not.” Tina shrugged.

“Since you brought it up. You and Jake.”

“I get the feeling that’s going to be the topic of conversation if I bring it up or not this week.”

“At least for a day or two.” Matt shrugged.  “I know Mike’s out of the regular loop a lot but eventually he is going to hear about this and then he’ll ask me for information and if I don’t have it, he’ll get mad. There will be a fight and it will be awful. Basically to save my friendship I have to ask you stuff.”

“You do realize Mike and I are friends right?”

“And he’s going to ask you different things than he’s going to ask me.  He likes you to think he’s a nice guy. I have no illusions.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I’ll tell him.  We started hanging out this summer and this just happened. I don’t know. I wasn’t looking for it but we just kind of work.  I’m having dinner with his mom tonight so I came here to run off some nervous energy. “

“Looks like Jake had a similar idea.” Matt said quietly as they came near the basketball court.  Slowing to a stop, they both could see Jake and Marley sitting underneath a tree talking.  Marley reached out and shoved Jake in the shoulder, laughing at something he said.

“They’re getting along well.” Tina said.  

“Just like clockwork.”

At the sound of Bree’s voice, Tina and Matt turned around.  With her hands on her hips and ponytail swinging in the breeze, she was wearing what Tina recognized from Kitty as the Cheerios summer practice uniform.

“Aren’t you afraid a house will fall on you?” Tina asked.

“Dated pop culture references. I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone who so much time with Sweater Vest Schuester.”

“What do want Bree?” Tina crossed her arms in front of her, reminding herself that she had graduated and Bree was nothing to her.  Bree’s vendetta against Jake would likely end as soon as school started and she found a new jock to fixate on.

“I’m just looking out for you.  One rebound Jake is using for sex to another.” Tina gasped and Bree preened a little at the reaction. “Don’t look so surprised.  You two weren’t nearly so discreet in the parking lot of karaoke as you thought you were.  Virgin Mary over there may have been blinded by the light reflecting off her halo but I’m not.”

“I think you need to leave.” Matt took a step forward.

“Or you’ll do what? Make me stop talking? That’s silencing a female about her experience. It’s sexist and wrong.  And I’m just being a friend.” Bree turned and looked at Tina. “Once he gets his fill from you of what he isn’t getting from her, he’ll leave and go running back to her like a puppy on a leash.  Probably sooner rather than later since you’re leaving town soon.  Guys like him always do.”  

Pausing, Bree mimicked a look of surprise, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh but maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe you won’t get the tattoo of his name changed.”  She smiled brightly waving her fingers. “Have a wonderful day. Bye!”

Matt let out a low whistle as Bree bounced in the direction they had just come from.  “Never ever tell Santana I said this, but that girl might just be meaner than her.”  He looked over at Tina, who still stood watching Bree walk away. “Tina? You ok?”

Tina shook her head. “Yeah. Fine. I mean I know she’s full of crap and has this weird fixation on Jake. I’m good I promise.”

She gave Matt a wavering smile and let out a breath.  But then she turned and saw Jake and Marley still sitting together,  apparently having missed the entire confrontation.  They were still enjoying each other’s company and from here it looked they were having fun.  Had she ever gotten back to friends status with an ex so quickly?  It took months with Artie and even longer with Mike.  Were Jake and Marley just really good at the friends thing while she sucked at it?  

Or was there something else?

Tina shook her head to push that thought out of her mind.  Bree didn’t know what she was talking about.  She just didn’t.  “Come on.  You have a lunch date to collect and I can’t avoid this dinner forever. Let’s go.”

 


	45. Chapter 44

“I’m sorry about her.” Matt apologized as he and Marley left Breadstix.   He looked over his shoulder to see his aunt flash him a smile as she got out her cell phone.  Matt closed his eyes and tried not to groan.  She was calling his mom.  He knew it.  This entire thing about Aunt Diana wanting him to bring Marley to lunch was really some trick so his mom could get information about his girlfriend without asking him.  He was willing to bet his aunt snuck some pictures of Marley on her phone before they sat down to join her.

“She was fine.” Marley shrugged, smiling at him.  “Besides how else is your mom going to get information on me?”

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew. I have met your aunt before so she didn’t really need to meet me officially. Besides I've been through this before with Jake”

“Ah. _Jake_.” Matt nodded as they stopped in front of his car.  He went to open the door but Marley but her hand on his wrist to stop him.

“Why did you just go all weird on me?”

“I didn’t go all weird on you.”

Marley shot him a "not impressed with you" look while she stood back on the heels of her sneaker crossing her arms in front of her.  “You  just said Jake’s name like he ran over your dog. And you don’t have a dog.”

“I’m not being weird. It’s just..” Matt waved his hand in front of his face. “It’s just leftover from my mom’s spy raid. I fine. I promise.”

“I don’t believe you.” Marley said simply refusing to move from her spot.  “You were weird when we met in the park. You just weird now when I said I already met your aunt……..”  She paused, her eyes flashing as she made a connection.  “Wait….is this about Jake?”

“What….why would you think this is about Jake?”

“Because you’ve been acting weird about him today.  Is there something going on that I don’t know about?”

_You’ve been acting like a kicked kitten since you found out about him and Tina and then I found you two today acting like nothing had ever happened between you?_  Matt bite his tongue to keep from speaking his thought out loud.  A part of him was aware he could be reacting very irrationally right now.  But another part of him had seen the way Tina had reacted in the park. Tina who had been here and seen Marley and Jake together when they were dating.  And Tina had been thrown.  He couldn’t just dismiss it if Tina had been thrown.   But he wasn’t dumb enough to have this conversation in the parking lot of Breadstix.

“I don’t have any problems with Jake.”   Which was true.  He would have a problem if Jake decided to try to steal his girlfriend from him.  He was _Puck’s_ brother after all.  

Marley looked over to the restaurant where the lunch crowd was still exiting.  “Look I know I’ve been weird around him the entire time you’ve known me.  And that Tina probably filled you in on the gory details of the end of the school year.”

“Tina….” Matt started to protest but it died on his lips when Marley shot him a look. “Ok she did.”

“If you’re just being all guy like about this because you think I want you to? It’s sweet but don’t.  I’ve worked really hard at not being mad at him anymore and we’re working on being friends. It’s kind of impossible for us not to at least try since we’re friends with the same people.”  She looked up at him with pleading eyes.  “Please don’t make this harder for me.  Jake and I are at kind of an ok place right now and I’ve done the whole my boyfriend doesn’t like my friend thing and it sucks. I don’t want to do it again.”

Matt let out a sigh. It didn’t sound like Marley still had feelings for Jake. Of course she wouldn’t say it if she did.  Well maybe she wouldn’t.  He just didn’t know.  What he did know was that he liked this girl standing in front of him and that she was becoming the best part of this summer.  He wasn’t prepared to blow that.  “Ok. Fine.  I’ll try not to be weird about Jake. But if you change your mind….”

“I’ll let you know.” Marley smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around his waist.  He pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head.  “Thank you.” She whispered into his tshirt.

“You’re welcome.”  

She pulled her head back to look at him.  “My mom is still at work. Want to go to my house and watch a movie?”

“Now that I will say yes to without being weird at all.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Can we agree on no more drama for the rest of the summer?” Ryder asked as he tossed the basketball up in the air as he laid on top of a picnic table by the playground.   He sat up to protest when Jake grabbed it in mid air as he jumped over the table.

“Sounds good to me.” Jake said as he sat down on the bench, passing the ball to Artie.

“Preach.” Artie nodded bouncing the ball in front of him. “Although that does mean you have to tell us everything about you and Tina.”

“How does that avoid drama?” Jake asked his eyebrow raised.

“Because it involves Tina and drama follows her around?” Ryder shrugged as he moved to sit next to Jake.  If his best friend was happy, Ryder was happy but he had to admit he was having some trouble wrapping his head around this development.

“She’s not like that.” Jake protested before noticing the looks Artie and Ryder shot him. “Ok this summer she hasn’t been like that.”

“Yeah because she’s been too busy sucking your face.” Artie looked way too proud of himself for such a lame joke Ryder thought.

“Do you ever hear these things in your head and tell yourself to stop?” Jake wondered.

“No.” Artie shrugged.  “Look I don’t want details because after everything we’ve been through Tina’s like my sister now and ew.  But this is the best topic of conversation we’ve got right now that doesn’t involve my girlfriend so you’re just going to have to suck up and tell us what’s what.”

“You mean you have your weird contest with Kitty to see who can get the most gossip and you want to win.” Ryder guessed.

“Details” Artie waved his hand, resting the basketball on his lap.  “Help a brother out and spill.”

“There’s not much to tell.” Jake sighed.  “We’ve been hanging out this summer and just one day she was just regular Tina bossing me around to watch You Tube videos of Broadway shows and then one day she was just…. _Tina_ ”

“So you just one day realized she was hot?” Ryder asked.

“No.” Jake shoved Ryder’s shoulder while Artie shot him a disappointed look.  “I always knew she was hot.  Hell we all know that.  I don’t know. Just one day I realized I was spending all my time with her.”

“Yeah we noticed that.” Artie chimed in.

“And always had fun even when we were working.  I found myself thinking about her when she wasn’t around and wanting to do things with her.  And we’d flirt all the time.  Just that night in Dayton….everything just kind of clicked.”

“Kitty and I just clicked too.” Artie nodded, looking serious.  Or at least Ryder thought Artie was aiming for looking serious.  He always looked a little ridiculous when he stroked his chin like that.  “It’s hard to resist the click.”

“I don’t think I’ve felt the click.” Ryder tilted his head to the side, thinking over his rather disastrous attempts at dating this past year.  “I thought there was one with Marley but she wasn’t feeling it.  The closest was probably with Katie….”

“Unique”  Artie and Jake corrected him at the same time.

“Unique. But it’s not like that with us.”

Jake groaned. “Dude you are not this dumb.”

“Mr. Schue isn’t this oblivious.” Artie shook his head.  “You and Unique click.”

“There is no click.”

“You hugged each other after Regionals when you were oh so mad at her.” Jake pointed out.

“Yeah but….”

“And  I already told you about how you flirt with her.” Artie interrupted.

“And since she kicked you to the curb, you’ve been a bigger mope than usual.”

“Because we spend all our time together.” Ryder pointed out. Artie and Jake shot him a set of matching duh looks.  “And I miss her when she’s not around.  And ok yeah she’s called me out on the flirting thing but….”

“But you still think you flirt with girls you are just friends with? The only one who does that is Jake and he doesn’t want to be friends with them when he does it.”

“It’s true.” Jake nodded.

“No. There is no click. I would know if there was a click.”

“That’s the point of the click. You don’t know till after it happens.” Artie said in his best wise director voice.  “Then it’s too late.”

Jake put his hand on Ryder’s shoulder.  “Have you spent time with any girl other than Unique and Kitty this summer?”

“No.”

“Do you have any plans to hang around anyone else but Unique this summer?”

“Well no but…”

“Have you thought about any girls since the end of school?”

“Well I mean…”

Jake shook his head. “I’m sorry man.  You’ve clicked.”

Seeing the looks on his friends’ faces Ryder felt his usual protest die in the back of his throat. Everything they were saying was true. He did spend all his time with Unique and always wanted to spend more time with her. He honestly hadn’t noticed about the flirting but now that everyone had pointed it out to him, he really was trying to not do that.  Given the way she had reacted to him in the coffee shop the other day, Ryder guessed he wasn’t as successful at the whole not flirting thing as he thought.  But really who wouldn’t want to flirt with Unique? She was great. Fun.  Awesome to hang with. Pretty.  Especially with the new way she was wearing her bangs. Not that she wasn’t pretty before that, he’d never say that but he just really liked the way…..

He stopped.  Ok he definitely did not think about his other friends that way.  And he also hadn’t been wondering if Tina would want to go to the new French place next to the  mall that was supposed to be super fancy.  Romantic is what his mother had called it when his parents went there last weekend. His first thought when his mom had described it to him was that it sounded like a great place to take Unique.

“Oh God. I clicked.”

“Thank you Grilled Cheesus.” Artie held his hands up to the sky. “I could not take much more of this.”

Ryder shot a panicked look to Jake and Artie. “But what if I’ve clicked and she hasn’t…..do I tell her I clicked?”

“And there goes our drama free summer.” Artie sighed.

“You didn’t really think that was going to last?” Jake asked.

“I hoped.”  Artie moved closer and patted Ryder’s knee. “Come on. We’ll figure out you can tell Unique something she’s already figured out and then everyone can move on with their lives.”


	46. Chapter 45

“You’re quiet.” Jake commented, lightly tugging on the ends of Tina’s hair.  She looked over her shoulder to where his mom was putting up the dishes before shoving him lightly in the shoulder.

“I am trying to make a better impression on your mom here.  Although I’m pretty sure that’s not possible.”

“We’re sitting on my couch watching a movie that she’s going to start watching with us in about five minutes.” Jake pointed out.  “This is the only chance we’re going to get for privacy tonight so you better stop being weird.” He paused and tilted his head. “Well weirder for you.”

“Thanks. You’re so sweet.” Tina deadpanned with a roll of her eyes, tucking her legs under her on the couch as she smoothed out her dress.  “I just don’t do well with the whole meet the parents thing.  Artie’s parents just kept looking at me like they didn’t know what to do with me and Mike’s parents I’m pretty sure hated me on sight.”

“If my mom hated you she would have never invited you in the first place.  She would have slammed the door in your face the other morning.”

“She was giving me the stink eye. I know from stink eye Jake.  Your mom hates me.”

“For the last time she doesn’t hate you.  The only person I think she actually hates is my dad and for good reason.  She even tried to like Kitty the one time she met her.”

“And I’m sure she _loved_ Marley” Tina muttered under her breath.  

Jake shot her a confused look, one of his eyebrows raised.  “Yeah she got along with Marley.  But Marley’s pretty easy to like.”

She was easy to like, which was part of the entire problem in Tina’s opinion.  Marley was sweet and willing to do anything to help out a friend.  She was probably as close to a real life Disney princess as Tina was ever going to meet.  Hell she hadn’t even had been able to stay mad at Marley for stealing her spot as female lead for longer than two months.  And that was Jake’s ex girlfriend.  

And that was the girl Tina knew Jake had spent the end of the school year and the start of this summer hating himself for hurting her.  He had withdrawn from all of them because he didn’t want to hurt Marley anymore and had only recently started coming back around when she had pushed him into it.  

And she was Tina.  She was angry, suspicious and hyper-competitive.  She could hold a grudge like no one’s business and could get irrationally jealous.  The last person anyone thought of and the first one people would forget.  (After all if she hadn’t called Santana, Rachel or Quinn with gossip from time to time she’d have never heard from any of them) She was still working on being friends with Mike and it had taken well over a year to repair her friendship with Artie and she had seen Marley and Jake laughing like they were already the best of friends only a few hours ago.  

Marley was her friend and Tina didn’t actually think Marley had any designs on getting back together with Jake.  But was Jake as over Marley as he said?  Because really why would he want to be with her when he had a chance to get back with a Disney princess in training?  

Well there was one reason but Tina really didn’t want to think about the possibility this was only happening between them because of their undeniable physical chemistry.  She wasn’t complaining at all and if it was just fun to Jake she would deal.  But with the whole meeting his mom thing, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe...just maybe it could be more.

She just didn’t want to come in second.  It happened to her far too many times.

“Jake?” Miss Clark stuck her head out of the kitchen. “Come help me with the snacks.”

“What?”

“I know you heard me and you’re not so old that I can’t snatch you up by your hair.  Get in here and help me.”

“Yes ma’am.”  Jake rolled his eyes before squeezing Tina’s knee as he got up.  

Tina managed a smile, trying to not look awkward as she sat in the living room by herself.  She knew a code for his mom to discuss her without her being in the room when she heard one. Looking around for some way to be useful, she spotted a stack of coasters on the end table at the other end of the couch. Scooting over she went to grab three of them, when a slick college brochure caught her eye.

Juilliard.

It wasn’t the cover she remembered from Mike’s applications so this had to be new.  And judging by the look of it, it had been read more than a few times.  Looking over her shoulder, she saw Jake and his mom sorting out the drinks and bowl of popcorn.  Jake was interested in Juilliard?

If anyone asked her opinion, he could totally get in.  Jake was every bit the dancer Mike was and the only concern Juilliard had with Mike was his lack of actual training. Jake she knew had the training.  And she wasn’t going to deny just the idea of Jake eventually being in New York with her was appealing.  

Jake could be just about as secretive about what he wanted as she could.  How long had it taken them to realize he had been taking ballet for years?  Even Mr. Schue hadn’t realized it and if there was one thing Tina really couldn’t knock Mr.Schue on it was dancing.  If he was interested in Juilliard?  Tina just didn’t think he would tell anyone.  

Which is why it was a good thing she was in his life.  If she had gotten Mike into Joffrey program, then she could totally get Jake into Juilliard.  That’s something even Marley wouldn’t be able to claim.  A little bit of research, some help from Blaine and Sam and she had this in the bag.

“Tina?” Jake asked as he and his mom came back into the room.

“Coasters!” Tina cringed as she realized she had practically shouted her answer.  “I was getting coasters.”

“Very helpful.” Miss Clark said, trying not to laugh. “Ready for the movie?”

“Totally.” Tina smiled as she put out the coasters before sitting next to Jake.  Good thing they had chosen a movie she had already seen a million times.  She had plans to make.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Can we talk?_

Unique rolled her eyes as she read Ryder’s text.  They had only been texting for the past 20 minutes. What exactly did that boy think they were doing?

**We already are talking.**

She watched as the bubble indicated Ryder was typing and deleting whatever he was trying to say.  Shaking her head, she went back to flipping through her newest issue of Glamour.  There was a skirt in here that would be beyond cute on Kitty and she needed to study it to see if she and Tina could make a similar item for Kitty’s upcoming birthday.

Marley was pushing to do a surprise party. Unique wasn’t entirely convinced it was the best idea but no one else had any suggestions.  Well Artie suggested not having a party at all but no one was listening to that nonsense. It would likely be their last chance to all party together before Tina and Artie flew off to join Sam and Blaine in New York. Of course they were going to party. It was like Artie didn’t even know them and that was just sad.

_Do you want to go out sometime?_

**Kitty and I were going to see that new horror movie on Wednesday. You want to join?**

_No I meant…..do you want to go out just the two of us? Like a date._

Unique stared at the message for several seconds before rubbing her eyes.  Clearly she had fallen asleep and was dreaming. Or she was seeing things.  Ryder Lynn did not just ask her out on a date over a text message.

Blinking her eyes, she shook her head to clear the obvious delusion from her mind.  Looking down at her phone, she felt her breath catch as the same message blinked at her.  She had to be imagining things.

**When you say date...you mean…..**

_A date.  An actual date. You and me.  Do you want to?_

Jumping up, Unique did a little victory dance around the room.  An actual date. Ryder was asking her out on an actual date.  She had given up on the idea of dating until at least college and now……  Now the guy she really liked was asking her out.  She bit her lip to keep from screaming.  

_Unique?  You there?_

The chiming of her phone brought her back to reality.  She probably should tell him yes before she did a victory lap around the house.

**Sorry. Yes.  Still here.   I should make you sweat for asking me out over text message but yes. Yes I’ll go out with you.**

_Awesome.  What about Friday?  I’ll pick up at 7?_

**Sounds perfect.**

Unique closed out the message, pulling up Marley’s contact information.  A first date required one thing.  Immediate best friend intervention.  Forget the movies with Kitty. All her girls were going to be needed for an fashion consultation.  

“Marley? You will never believe what just happened.”

 


	47. Chapter 46

“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” Artie asked as he pulled up another performance on his laptop. “I’ve already posted all of these on my You Tube channel.  Can’t Jake just use that?”

“Because if Juilliard does a web search on Jake’s application they need to see a channel devoted just to him so they aren’t distracted by your need to zoom in on your girlfriend every five seconds.” Tina pointed out, flipping her hair back over her shoulder.  

“First off that was one video and the girl was doing splits. You can’t blame on that one.” Artie protested as he started the footage from Sectionals.  “Second while I see the logic in your argument why isn’t Jake here to help decide what should on here? Isn’t he the best judge of what’s his best work?”

“He’s…..busy.” Tina said quickly, her eyes shifting guiltily off to the side.  She chewed her bottom lip.  Artie recognized the signs.  Tina never had learned to be a good liar.  The lip chewing always gave her away.

He let out a sigh and stopped the tape.  “Jake doesn’t know you’re doing this does he?”

“What? Of course he does. He’s….he’s just busy.”

“Too busy to do something for his own college application? Tina.”  Artie sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.  She really should know better than to try to pull this crap on him. They knew each other far too well.

“I’m telling you he’s busy.  I’m just being a good girlfriend and helping him out.”

“Just like you were a good girlfriend and did Mike’s applications _for_ him?” Artie asked.  “Does Jake even want to go to Juilliard or is this your idea?”

“Of course he wants to go.  He had this year’s catalogue.”

“He had the catalogue?  You do realize we both have the catalogue for the University of Lima right?”

“Ok everyone who lives in Lima has one of those.  I think it comes standard when you enroll at McKinley.”

“Tina. Tell me I’m not helping you fill out your boyfriend’s college applications without his knowledge. Again.”

“Hey you agreed with me about Mike needing some gentle nudging to do what we all knew he wanted to do.”

“Because I had actually heard him talk about wanting to study dance.  I haven’t heard Jake talk about this next year at McKinley much less wanting to go to Juilliard.”

“He’s insanely talented. Why wouldn’t he want to go to Juilliard?”

“Oh god.” Artie groaned, burying his face in his hands.  “You haven’t even talked with him about this have you?”

“We’ve...ok technically we haven’t talked about this but he keeps mention his applications so I know he wants to go.”

“Applications in general or this one specifically?”

“General.” Tina waved her hands in the air. “But trust me. This will be fine.”

“You do realize that Jake isn’t Mike right? And that Mike was like insanely nice and didn’t hold a grudge against anyone?  The fact Mike didn’t get mad at you doesn’t mean _Jake’s_ going to be fine with this.”   Artie threw up his hands.  “I’m out. If you’re determined to do this, you can do it on your own.  I’m not willingly courting the Puckerman Wrath.”

“Come on. I can’t do this without you. I thought Jake was your boy or whatever word you guys use instead of friends.”

“Which means I don’t do things to help his girlfriend unless he specifically asked me to.”  Artie pushed his chair back, turning it so he could look at Tina.  “Tina the reason we work so well as friends is I know when to get away from your crazy.”

“It is not crazy to want the best for the people you care about.”  Tina crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at him.

“I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this but as your friend let me enlighten you.” Artie paused to push his glasses up his nose.  “You’re a control freak.”

Tina stomped her foot, balling her fists up to rest on her hips. "I am not!"

"Yes you are honey." Kitty answered brightly. Turning his head Artie saw her leaning on the door to his bedroom, her ponytail swinging as she smiled at them both.  "Just the rest of us have decided the better part of self preservation is not telling you that. "

"Whatever. If you won't help me Artie I'll do it myself and we'll see who's right."

"Spoiler alert. Not you!" Artie yelled after Tina as she stormed out of the room. She'd feel better after she screamed at Blaine. Then Blaine would tell her the exact same thing he had only this time she might actually listen to it.

"Do I even want to know what brought that on?" Kitty asked before waving her hands in front of her face. "You know what? Forget it. I'm sure I'll hear all about it when we help Unique get ready for her official first date with Ryder."

"Oh thank God he finally got his head out of his ass. I couldn't take much more of that."

Throwing herself onto the chair closest to his desk, Kitty shot him a saucy wink. "And you would know about heads being up asses."

"I walked right into that didn't I? So to speak."

"Anyway Unique is freaking out about her date and I can only handle that level of drama that's not about me for so long. So you're taking me out tonight."

Artie smiled, amused at her assumption. She wasn't wrong that he'd gladly take her out but it wasn't a good idea to let her know she such a hold on him. "Am I taking you anywhere in particular?"

"Well you said you wanted to surprise me so I figured I'd let you."

"Oh so nice of you"

"That's me. The queen of nice. Now come on. I'm starving. "

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Laying on his back, Ryder tossed the basketball at the ceiling, wincing when he threw too hard and actually hit the ceiling.  That was going to leave a mark.  "No we go there all the time. It's not first date material.  It has to be special. "

"You realize this would be easier if you had realized you were dating her months ago right? " Jake grabbed the basketball from Ryder's hands, spinning it between his palms. "Also who goes to Breadstixs on couples night as friends? "

"Are you actually going to be helpful or just make fun of me all night?"

"Probably both. " Jake shrugged his shoulders.  "Its not my fault you've shot down all my best ideas."

Ryder sat up, running his fingers through his hair. "I just want to get this right. I've been kind of a jerk about this whole thing"

"Kind of a jerk?"

"Shut up.  This needs to be special. Unique deserves special."

"Ok so come up with a special idea instead of my awful regular suggestions. You were better at this when you were pretending to be me for Valentine's Day."

"Yeah but I can't do the same thing now. Unique knows what I did. She'll think I couldn't think of anything else to do."

"You can't. " Jake pointed out.  "You're the one that's been hanging out with her all summer.  Didn't she ever say anything about what she thought was romantic? Do that."

"Well there is one thing...." Ryder said slowly.  "But you'll think it's super cheesy. "

"Bro. We once had to help Mr. Schue and Finn work out their shit with boy band songs. Even you can't out cheese that."

****  
  



	48. Chapter 47

“Hi!” Marley bounced on her toes happily as she opened the door to find Matt standing there.  She leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek.  “Come on in. Sorry I’m not ready. I was working on some stuff for Kitty’s party.”

She gestured to the piles of paper that were spread out on the beat up second hand coffee table her mom had found at a garage sale two...no three schools ago.  Shoving the papers into a single messy pile, Marley motioned for Matt to sit down on the couch.  “No one ever told me planning a surprise party took so much work.”

“I thought Unique and Tina were helping you with that.  And why isn’t Artie involved?  He and Kitty didn’t break up did they?”

“No. Artie’s all about it but he really only hangs out with Tina without the rest of us so if he’s suddenly hanging out with me and Unique…..”

“All bets are off. Got it.” Matt smiled as Marley sat down next to him, pulling her legs under her.  

“Exactly. And since Blaine called me to tell me he and Kurt are going to be in town for the party….it’s gotten more complicated. Tina has to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Hummel about not telling anyone they’ll be coming in.  Just if I ever again suggest planning a surprise party stop me ok?”

“It would probably help if I ever saw Tina or Unique here helping you with this.”

Reaching across the couch, she shoved his shoulder.  “They are helping.  It’s just Unique is a little freaked out about this date with Ryder.  And Tina’s doing something...I’m not sure what but I’m sure we’ll find out at some point.  But they are helping.”  

“Tina’s up to something? Do we have to sit through another pageant?”

“No. Whatever it is Jake doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.  I can’t imagine she wouldn’t have him help her again if that was the case.”

“Jake doesn’t know?”  Marley wrinkled her nose in confusion as the hesitation she heard in Matt’s voice.  She thought they had talked about this.  But Matt was still sounding weird about Jake.

“Yeah no. We were texting earlier and he thinks she’s acting weird too.” She tilted her head to the side to look at her boyfriend.  “Why are you sounding all weird about Jake?”

“I’m not sounding all weird about Jake.” Matt protested, shifting uncomfortably on the couch.

“Yes you are. I thought we talked about this. Jake and I are friends.”

“Yeah...I know...I know you are.  I don’t want to be weird.  I’m trying not to be but...look I know he’s not his brother but I knew Puck for years and Puck is Puck. And I know why the two of you broke up. Look I may not have been in the choir room long but I know how things work in there.”

“Wait...what?”  Marley stood up.  “You’re being weird because…..of his brother?  And the soap opera that happened that year?  Oh my God. That’s...that’s crazy.”

“I’m just saying what I feel. Come on even Tina is weirded out by you two being friends again.”

“Tina? Tina is weird about a lot of things including some very strong opinions on leggings versus tights.  So don’t bring Tina into this.”

“I’m not bringing her into this. I’m just saying I’m not the only one who is having trouble with this.” Matt explained as he stood up.  “Look you’ve got to understand…”

“No I understand.  You don’t trust me because your friends were incapable of having normal relationships.”

“I trust you. I trust you. It’s Jake….”

Scrunching her eyes closed, Marley covered her face with her hands before blowing out a breath.  “I’m not going to say that I was Jake’s biggest fan at the start of this summer but he’s changed a lot.  Just like his brother has changed a lot, since you brought him up.  And I’m not dating Jake nor am I interested in dating him again.  I’m dating _you_ and _he’s_ dating Tina.”

“And when you found out he was dating Tina you went radio silent for like a week.”

“Oh that was not because I was jealous or whatever you think.  It was because I saw them practically about to have sex backstage at the theater.  No one needs to see that.”

“Marley.” Matt reached out to take her hand but Marley stepped back out of his reach.  “Look I like you and I don’t want to ruin what we have going here but I don’t think it’s out of line to have issues with my girlfriend being close with her ex that cheated on her just a couple of months ago.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Marley mentally counted to ten before speaking.  She didn’t want to fight with Matt but she knew she wasn’t in the wrong here.  She and Jake had worked hard on being friends again and they were still working on it.  Matt was leaving for Dayton in a few weeks and she would still be here, with Jake. It would be so much easier if they were friends.  “I think you need to leave” she said softly, cursing how shaky she sounded.

“Marley. Come on. Let’s talk about this.”

“No.  We’re not talking we’re fighting.  And I don’t want to fight.  I want you to leave.”

“Marley…”

“I want you to leave.  Please Matt. Just go.”  She blinked her eyes to keep the tears she felt forming at bay. She was not going to cry. She wasn’t.

She kept her eyes trained at the ground, looking at Matt’s sandals instead of him.  She could feel the silence growing between them but she wasn’t going to look at him. If she looked at him she would cry.  

Finally Matt let out a sigh. “Ok I’ll go.  But I will call you.”

“Fine.”  Marley held herself still, still looking at the floor until his feet started moving and she heard the front door close behind him. Only then did she give into the urge to collapse on the couch, letting the tears finally fall.  She reached for her phone blindly, shoving papers all around until she found it.  On automatic pilot she scrolled until she found the name she wanted.

“Kitty?  Can you come over?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So all he really needs is the application and the letters of recommendation?” Tina asked, even though she was looking at the admission requirements online as she spoke with the admission counselor.  It was always better to double check then assume.  She glanced around the park, waving her hand in front of her eyes to get rid of the bugs circling her.

“Yes. And as I explained if he is invited to audition a videotaped audition will be acceptable if there is no way to attend one at one of the audition sites.”

“Excellent. Thank you so much for your help. I’ll make sure to get that application to you by the deadline.” Tina hung up her phone quickly as she re-read the information on the website. Most of the information would be easy enough to get.  There shouldn’t be any problem getting verification of his training from the dance studio.  And Mr. Schue could always be counted on to jump through fire to get a student into a prestigious program. She’d clearly have to read Mr. Schue’s recommendation to make sure he didn’t actually write a letter praising Mike. Or Rachel. Or Puck.  But that would be easy enough to do.  

The application fee was a sticking point but if she made the right pitch to Blaine, well he’d help make sure that got paid.  Not to mention she was totally counting on him and Kurt to offer to their couch to Jake for his audition.  But hell if they let Santana move in and out with no warning then hosting Jake for a weekend wouldn’t be a big issue.  The entire trip to New York for an audition would be tricky but she had a little time to work on that.

“Tina! Tina! Save me!”  Ryder called out dramatically, giving her just enough to look up and snap her laptop shut before Ryder threw himself across her feet. Jake followed behind Ryder, rolling his eyes and carrying a grocery bag.

“Save you from what?”  

“From your boyfriend’s non-helpful solutions.” Ryder said simply, ignoring the kick Jake delivered to his leg.  “I’m telling you he doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body. In fact save yourself. Dump him now.”

“You’re the one who asked for my help.” Jake pointed out before dropping the bag on the ground to sit next to her, kissing her cheek.

Ryder shook his head. “Ok yeah that’s still weird.”

“I’ll remind you of that when you and Unique start making out all over the place.” Jake promised.  “What are you working on?  You looked pretty serious over here.”

“Nothing” She curled her fingers tighten around the edges of her laptop.  “Just some stuff for school.”

“Too early to talk about school” Ryder dismissed easily with a wave of his hand.  “Anyways Tina. Tell this loser you decided against all better judgement to date that picnics are romantic.”

“I never said they weren’t.” Jake protested, putting his hand over his heart to look at Tina.  “All I said was that he might want to rethink the number of candles or he’s going to start a forest fire.”

“They are necessary for the mood.” Ryder argued.

“Tell Unique to wear flame resistant clothing.” Jake leaned over to fake whisper to her.  “Trust me. It will save a life.”

“See?” Ryder sat up, resting his hands on her knees. “No romance.  I’m telling you he’ll buy you a toaster for Christmas.”

“I’ll probably need a toaster.” Tina mused.  “Between Artie, Sam and Blaine? The one I am bringing with me is going to be taken apart to make a robot.”

“The romance is dead between the two of you already.” Ryder shook his head. “It’s sad. Tragic really.  I better leave before you poison this date before it even starts.”

“That’s hard to do since I drove your ass.” Jake rolled his eyes but leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Talk later tonight?”

“I’ll be around” Tina promised before returning his kiss.  “And Ryder?  Don’t listen to him.  I’m sure Unique will find anything you have planned for this date perfect. Just don’t set her on fire.”

“I changed my mind. Tina I’m going to miss you the most when school starts.”

“Quit sucking up to my girlfriend and concentrate on your own.” Jake stood up, shoving Ryder in the shoulder.  

“Why?  Because she is a woman of taste that will eventually like me better than you? I can see how you’d worry about that.”

“Bye guys.” Tina giggled as Jake and Ryder shoved and teased each other as the left.  After waiting until they were at least out of earshot, she opened her laptop again.  She had details to finalize.  

****  
  



	49. Chapter 48

“Ok. We have to stop.”   Kitty reached over, stopping the Hulu player.  “We can not watch anymore _Felicity_. It’s way too much like watching your future biopic. I’m truly uncomfortable watching you lose your virginity to the admittedly smoking hot senior because you’re a moron with communication issues”

“Ok first off it’s so clear that sleeping with Noel was never going to happen because she was saving herself for Ben.  Duh.” Marley rolled her eyes as Kitty moved the laptop to the other end of the bed.  “Secondly I am not like Felicity.”

Kitty tugged on the ends of Marley’s hair. “Cut this super short after your next break up and we’ll talk how not like Felicity you are, Porter.”

“Don’t say breakup.” Marley groaned pulling her pillow over her face.  Kitty rolled her eyes.  Sometime between Marley calling her and her showing up at her house, her normally sensible friend had dove off the deep end into drama the likes of which Kitty had previously only thought Tina capable of.  

“Jesus give me the strength not to slap sense into this child.”  Kitty mumbled under her breath as she closed her eyes.  Opening her eyes, she squared her shoulders and pulled the pillow away from Marley’s face.  “It was a fight.  Those of us who doesn’t live in Mary Poppins land are aware these things happen. Arthur and I have at least three a day”

“Kitty…”

“No. Don’t _Kitty_ me.  I’m right.  I realize you aren’t used to this because Jake just caved and did whatever you wanted but fights happen. Deal with it and milk the apology for all it’s worth.”

“Jake didn’t just cave. We fought.”

“Once. About the whole Ryder kissing you thing which if I remember right you pretty much told him to get over it because you were still going to be Ryder’s friend.  Which I personally am glad he did because it gave me hours of homoerotic subtext to watch all year. But he caved. All the time.  You just didn’t realize it because apparently you don’t realize what a fight actually looks like.”  Kitty cocked her head to the side and held up one finger. “Ok wait. Amend that. You had two fights and the second one was about you not putting out and then the whole Bree thing happened.”

“Why did I call you?” Marley groaned grabbing her pillow out of Kitty’s hand.

“Because Tina would have you convince Matt is on his way to marry some random jogger he would inexplicably chat up in the park and you don’t want to worry Unique out with the whole Ryder thing happening soon.  You didn’t call me because I’m nice.  You called me because sad to say I’m the one with the most successful and normal relationship in this whole sorry group and that is sad. So very deeply pathetically sad.”

Marley’s phone began to ring.  Recognizing the Beyonce song immediately Kitty dove over Marley to grab at the phone.  As Marley tried to wrestle the phone out of her grip, Kitty answered it and cheerfully chirped “Blaine. Marley can’t talk to you right now because she’s being a drama queen and you’ll only encourage her.”

“Kitty?”

“Oh please. Who else would tell you off?” Kitty asked fending off another attempt by Marley to grab her phone.

“I am not being a drama queen Blaine.” She yelled.

“Yes she is. Ignore her. I’m trying to.” Kitty jumped over Marley and ran over towards her desk, jumping up on the chair.  

“Are you even going to tell me what she’s being a drama queen about?” Blaine wondered.

“She and Matt had a fight and then she made the mistake of watching _Felicity_ because lets be honest here, that’s totally her life.”

“I loved that show.” Blaine sighed.

“Not the point and also not surprised.” Kitty stuck her tongue out at Marley as she tried again to grab at the phone. Marley may have a height advantage but her tendency to not know what to do with her arms other than flail put her at a disadvantage. Kitty knew how to move her body, which was the only thing she would ever thank Sue Sylvester for.  “Anyway between the fight and 90s teen angst she’s pretty much convinced herself Matt is going to break up with her and if I have to explain why you are so not the person to be talking with her about this things are going to get very uncomfortable very quickly even for me.”

“Kitty are you actually developing...tact?” Blaine asked incredulously.

“Oh god. I’ve been hanging out with you all too long. Quick send me a picture of your closet of hair gel.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you actually have a heart.” Blaine teased.

“Is there a reason you’re calling?”

“HA!” Marley crowed as she finally grabbed the phone out of Kitty’s had. “Blaine I’ll call you back.”

“What?  Couldn’t plan your sappy song in front of me?”

Marley wrinkled her nose in Kitty’s direction. “No. I’ll just talk to him later when you aren’t being the worst.”

“Hey you called me. If you wanted niceness you would have called...well anyone else really.  I’m the only one who will tell you you’re being ridiculous.” Kitty shoved Marley in the shoulder towards the bed.  “Get your shoes on loser. We’re going out.”

“What? Kitty I don’t really feel like going anywhere.”

“We’re going out to the Lima Bean and then you’re going to call Matt and ask him to meet you there.  Then I’ll watch while I harass Ryder into giving me free cookies as you two have what I’m sure will be the world’s most adorable apology session.  You two will go make friends with the animals or whatever it is you do and I’ll go find my boyfriend to have a Sylvester Stallone marathon to wash the cute off me.”

“And if he doesn’t want to meet me?”

“Then we’ll both get free cookies from Ryder and I’ll even debate with you if you could pull off Felicity’s season 2 haircut.”

“I could so rock that look.”

“Keri Russell rocked that look.  You….no. Sorry.  Come on let’s go.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Honestly I didn’t think this sentence was even possible but it has to be said.” Artie shook his head as he squinted his eyes in concentration at the TV screen. “But you are way too quiet. Even for you.”

“Sam’s about to take you out.” Matt pointed out gesturing with his controller.

“Dude. You’re still here?  I haven’t heard you talk in like….an hour.” Sam’s voice came over the crackle of the ear piece.

“One I saw him and two thank you for proving my point Sam.” Artie wrinkled his nose in an attempt to push up his glasses.  “You haven’t been this quiet since that week the spider laid eggs in your ear.”

“I told Blaine that stuff really happens.” Sam crowed as he scored another hit.  “Now he’ll be forced to admit our neighbor is totally part of the underground organ harvesting ring.”

“Do I want to know how you came to that conclusion?” Artie asked.

“Dude no one needs to buy that many trash bags.”

“Ok moving on from that conversation we are never going to finish.” Artie hit pause on the game, ignoring Sam’s howl of protest.  “Does this have anything to do with why Marley called Kitty to come over earlier?  I mean Marley’s my girl but she did interrupt plans for a massive movie marathon with my woman and you’re here being even more silent than usual. So I have to think the two are related.”

“Odds you’re just going to drop this?”

“None.  It’s the New Directions way.” Sam pointed out.  “Tell him what he needs to know and let’s get back to the game.”

“The New Directions way.” Matt muttered.  “You ever stop to realize how really weird that is?”

“Look I agree Sam having opinions on what kind of underwear Blaine buys is out there but Sam’s kind of our outlier.  I for one do not care if you wear boxers or briefs.”

“I remember you having some very definite opinions on that during _Grease_ …” Sam started.

“ _Anyway_ an argument could be made that we’re a little too over involved in each other’s lives but that happens in families. And really at this point I don’t think Tina will let us be any other way. Too much talking for you?”  Artie suggested.

Matt shrugged his shoulders.  “No.  Marley and I just had a disagreement that’s all.”

“Oh. A fight.” Sam and Artie said at the same time. Artie nodded his head. Well now this all made sense.  

“Not a fight. Just a disagreement.  She kicked me out before it became a fight.” Matt protested.

“Trust me. It’s a fight.” Artie advised.  

“Listen to him. He’s fought with more girlfriends than both of us.” Sam pointed out.

“Why do I hang out with you?” Artie muttered under his breath.  “Look Marley’s sweet.  Just sing a song to her when we go to karaoke this weekend and all will be forgiven. Trust me it works like a charm every time.”

“He would know.” Sam chimed in.

“Sam stop trying to help.” Artie sighed and rubbed his temple before continuing. “Look at this way. A stupid fight followed by a musical apology is a New Directions tradition. We’re just catching you up on all the years of drama that you missed.”

“Even if I don’t want any part of it?”

“Again part of the New Directions way.” Sam pointed out.  “It’s in the contract you sign when you walk in the choir room.”

“I didn’t sign any contract.”

“It was implied.” Artie explained. “We didn’t make it an actual written thing until last year. Sam will have Blaine bring a copy with him to Kitty’s party.”

“Oh!” Sam’s voice brightened.  “I might be able to make that.  I’m guessing crashing at your place is out of the question?”

“Well one it would ruin the surprise and two you have a creepy crush on my mom so yes. You can’t stay here. Stay at the Hummels.”

“I don’t...I don’t want to stay in Finn’s room.” Sam said softly.  Artie mentally kicked himself. He had forgotten Sam and Finn had shared a room when Sam lived there.  “But you’re right.  I’ll talk to Ryder or Jake.  It will be cool.”

Matt took a breath. “Look feel free to say no cause I know we don’t really know each other but you can stay with me.  Kitty’s never been to my house so it wouldn’t ruin the surprise and we wouldn’t have to worry about her just showing up and finding out.”

“That….that would be awesome dude.  Thanks.”

“No problem. Can we get back to killing each other now?” Matt held up his controller.

“Fine.” Artie sighed as he restarted the game. “But I’m still helping you pick an apology song for karaoke this weekend.”

“Which means he’ll ask Tina to pick for him so you know it will be a song Marley will love.” Sam said as the action resumed on screen.  

“That’s it Evans. Your ass is mine.”

“You wish Abrams. You wish.”

****  
  



	50. Chapter 49

Opening the door to the studio, Tina slipped in quietly to sit with the moms and bored older siblings waiting for Jake’s class to be over.  Moving her bag underneath her feet, she smiled as the small cluster of 7 year old girls giggling while they watched Jake help a little boy with his foot position.  Judging from the way they followed his every move, it looked like her boyfriend was developing a fan club.

She bit her lip to keep from grinning like an idiot from just thinking the word boyfriend. She was a mature woman now, beyond such ridiculousness.  He wasn’t her first boyfriend, she should be beyond looking like his class of seven year olds from just thinking the word boyfriend.  And it wasn’t like they were just now started dating.  

It must be the fact that she was still getting used to the idea of being able to admit they were dating to anyone other than herself.  The way Marley found had been less than ideal but they were dealing with it.  And all the drama with Kitty, quickly followed by Ryder figuring out what everyone already knew had been a welcome distraction from all her friends asking too many questions.  Well her friends here in Lima at least. Mercedes, Kurt, Blaine and Sam had tons of questions. Questions she was going to have answer when Kitty’s surprise party came around.  

Which meant at some point she and Jake were going to have to talk about things. Sam had found an apartment that even Kurt had signed off on as acceptable.  She had sent her and Artie’s part of the deposit money off last week.  Columbia was sending her stuff almost daily regarding her orientation week and scheduling.  Her parents were looking over dates to see which one would work best to help her move to New York.  She was leaving and the date for her departure was coming up quick.  

Did she want to do long distance again?  After she and Mike had ended Tina has swore she was never going to attempt to do long distance again.  It was hard and in the end all she had left was a tattoo she had to get changed.  She didn’t think Jake would want to try long distance but what if he did? What if it wasn’t just Juilliard he was looking at but at the Early Admission program where he could start before he graduated high school?  What if he was just going to end up in New York in a few short months?

Her friends would be no help. Kitty and Artie had their agreement to break up when Artie left. Blaine and Kurt would tell her stories about how it was hard but it was so worth it.  Mercedes and Sam could barely admit they were dating so asking them how to do things long distance was pointless.  Logically she knew she had to talk with Jake about this but they hadn’t been dating all that long and hadn’t even talked about if they saw this going anywhere or if it was just a really insanely hot summer fling.  Not that she would complain if it was a summer fling because really she had no complaints whatsoever.  

Jake caught her eye and shot her a wink, smiling in her direction.  Tina felt warmth pool in her belly remembering the last time he had shot her a wink.  It had led to some very adult swim time in Ryder’s pool last week.  God bless distracted boys playing video games.  Ryder and Artie hadn’t even noticed them leaving the room, much less going outside to skinny dip.  She felt her cheeks flush as she remembered him following her into the deep end and pushing her against the pool wall before kissing her senseless, his hands tracing down her curves before reaching the top of her thighs and lifting her up to hook her legs around his waist.  She pretended to look at a message on her phone, convinced if one of the parents looked at her right now they would just know about the impure thoughts she was having about their child’s dance teacher and just how flexible and strong his body really was.

“Ok. That’s looking really great.  I’ll see everyone next week ok?” Jake smiled as he dismissed the class setting free the crowd of giggling girls and a few boys back to their parents.  Tina held back as the group dispersed, smiling as the giggling group from smiled up at him until their mothers almost had to drag them out of the room.  

“Looks like you have a fan club.” She smiled as she walked towards him.  She didn’t miss the appreciative way his eyes watched her every move and grateful she had decided on wearing these particular jean shorts today.  

“I like my women a little older.” He promised reaching out to pull her closer to him by her waist.  Smiling Tina wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaned in to kiss her.  “Not that I’m complaining but I thought we didn’t have plans till later.” he said after they pulled their lips apart.

“Change in plans.  You don’t have any big plans this weekend right?”

“Besides helping Ryder set up for the big date? No. Why?”

Tina playfully hit his nose with her finger.  “Blaine’s mom called me.  She and his dad have to go out of town and their usual house sitter had a family emergency and can’t do it at the last minute.  She wanted to know if I wanted to house sit for them.”

“So you’re going to Blaine’s house?” Jake tilted his head at her in confusion.

“I’m on my way to Blaine’s house where I’ll be for the next four days _all alone_.  Including this weekend when you don’t have any plans.” Tina said slowly trailing her finger down to the middle of his chest.  “I guess I’ll just spend all my time at the pool.”

In the back of her mind she was aware this was incredibly tacky of her but she was pretty sure that Kurt and Blaine had in fact had sex in her mother’s craft room during her graduation party.  And Santana and Brittany in the downstairs bathroom.  Actually if she thought about it all her friends except maybe Mike (and she still didn’t buy his excuse of helping Sugar move her car.  They looked entirely too guilty when she saw them)  likely had sex in her house earlier in the summer so really this was just fair game.

Jake squeezed her hip, smiling slowly.  “Ryder keeps saying he owes me for helping with this date. I think I can cash that in.”

“Good.” Tina kissed him quickly before stepping back to retrieve her bag.  She had promised Mrs. Anderson she would be at the house before 6 to get the keys and she then had to get ready for her date with Jake tonight.  Her phone buzzed the bottom of the bag, letting her know of an incoming text message.

Flipping to the message screen, she giggled.  She handed Jake her phone without a word.

_**Blaine:** _

_**Tina I swear if you have sex in my house I will fly to Ohio and kill you in your sleep.** _

Taking back her phone Tina quickly typed back a reply before putting her phone back in her bag.

_**Tina:** _

_**Should have thought of that before you and Kurt defiled my mother’s craft room.  I still don’t know how to explain to her how the shelf above her desk got ripped out of the**_ wall.  

Blaine’s ringtone rang out but Tina ignore it, letting voice mail pick up the call.  “I need to meet Mrs. Anderson but we can still meet up at Breadstix like we planned ok?”

“Sounds good.  I’ll….” Jake was cut off as his phone started to ring.  Looking at caller ID, he raised his eyebrow in her direction.  “Blaine?” he asked slowly.  “Yeah...she’s here.”

Tina motioned with her hands for Jake to tell her what was going on but Jake held up one finger as he listened to Blaine.  “Ok. One second.”  Covering the phone with his hand Jake shook his head. “Blaine said to tell you he and Kurt did not defile your mother’s craft room. That was Puck and Quinn.  And then there was some stuff about the shelf and the limits of flexibility that I really don’t want to know about.”

“He overshares when he’s excited.” Tina explained as she grabbed the phone from him. “Blaine Devon Anderson you may not have been in the craft room but I know you and Kurt had sex in my house during my graduation party.  Probably several times since on multiple occasions no one could find the two of you.  And furthermore if Sam or Artie had been asked to house sit you would not be calling them to tell them not to have sex in your parent’s house. That is sexist and possibly slut shaming Blaine Anderson. I thought you were better than that.”

“Tina I still have to go back to that house for holidays. I do not want to spend my entire Christmas break wondering if I’m sitting on a couch you and Jake had sex on.”

“Hey! I was just fine avoiding the craft room for the rest of my life but now I have to go through my entire house wondering which rooms you and your fiance got busy in.  Thanks to you guys and everyone else I’m going to have to move. I thought my bedroom was safe but now I’m not so sure.”

“Tina…”

“Blaine. I have to leave to meet your mom and get the keys. I promise to treat your house with the same amount of respect as you did mine.  Have a great weekend and I suggest if you really don’t want to know what I’m going to do all weekend, do not call me.”  She smiled brightly. “Bye Blainey Days.” she called out in a sing song voice before hanging up the phone.

Handing back his phone, Tina winked at Jake.  “He’ll be fine. He’ll stew and probably try to call us a million times tonight but just send him to voice mail. He’ll be fine by Monday.  Just meet me like we planned and we’ll figure out the rest tonight ok?”

“Did I ever tell you you’re hot when you’re being devious?” Jake asked pulling her back towards him to kiss her again.

Licking her lips, Tina couldn’t help the intake of breath when she found herself securely against his chest.  “No but please feel free to expand on this discussion later.”

“Oh I plan on it.”

****  
  
  



	51. Chapter 50

“If you wear that I will toss all your wigs in the toilet myself.” Kitty shook her head at the dress Unique held up.  “Why do you even own something that hideous?  Whoever bought it clearly hates you.”

“I bought it when we were in LA thank you very much. Unique tossed a hair brush off her vanity and towards Kitty who was sitting on her bed.   Kitty easily rolled out of the way knocking into Tina while Marley smiled from her spot next to the window.

“Oh blinded by tacky.  That explains everything.” Kitty rolled her eyes.  

“It’s not that bad.” Marley said quietly, taking the dress from Unique’s hands before hanging it back up in the closet.  “It’s not right for this date but it’s not awful.”

“You’re wallowing in self pity.” Kitty waved her hand in dismissal. “You’re judgement is clearly not to be trusted.”

“I’m not wallowing.” Marley protested, earning her a skeptical look from Tina and Unique. “I’m not.  I’ve tried to talk to Matt.”

“Because I made you and texted the message for you.” Kitty interrupted.

“But he didn’t respond so it’s in his court.  But I am not wallowing.”

“Please.  How many sappy songs have you written this week?” Kitty asked pointedly.  Marley looked to the ground and Kitty smirked in her direction.  “Yeah I thought so.”

“Matt will come around.” Tina offered before wrinkling her nose up at the skirt Marley pulled from the closet.  “He’s hanging out too much with Artie right now and is probably listening to him too much. Give him another day and he’ll remember what horrible advice Artie gives.  And I don’t know about that skirt.  It would depend on the top.”

“Look she’s right about Arthur and the skirt.”  Kitty agreed.  “If you don’t hear from Matt tonight let me know and I’ll bust up their little video game party myself.”

“Ok. Enough talking about me please. We are here to help Unique.”  Marley handed Unique the skirt.  “We should be talking about her love life not mine.”

“It’s one date. Not a love life.” Unique protested but taking the skirt.  “Oh find that new sweater I got when we went shopping last week.”

“The last time Ryder went on a date he was about two seconds away from getting Marley’s name tattooed on his ass.” Kitty pointed out.  “If this goes well just face it. You’ll be married to the guy by the start of school.”

“Number one I would clearly have to get approval of all tattoos of my name to make sure it matches my perfection. Number two there is no way I would do a quickie wedding.  My wedding will take at least a year to plan and then possibly another year to make sure everything I want I’m going to get.”

“You realize you bought like five sweaters last week right?” Marley asked as she looked through the stacks of sweaters folded neatly on a shelf.  “And quit picking on Ryder.  He’s a little overenthusiastic but it’s sweet if you want that sort of thing.  Which we all know Unique does.”

“And we just discussed her lack of taste.” Kitty teased as she looked over at the two sweaters Marley held in her hands.  “The hot pink one. That one.”

“Exactly the one I was thinking of.” Unique agreed taking it from Marley’s hands.  “You all know I appreciate an audience but you are all aware of the fact I get fabulous daily without your help?”

“Yes but first dates are different.” Tina pointed out.  “And you’ve done this with all of us so it’s payback.”

“Excuse you I have not helped you get ready for any dates.  Especially someone’s first date with Jake.”

“Well….that was different.” Tina blushed as she started looking closer at the magazine in her lap.  

“Oh you can just say it. You two thought sneaking around was hot.” Kitty rolled her eyes.  “No judgement. It’s part of the reason why I kept Arthur on the downlow.”

“That’s not why we didn’t tell anyone.” Tina shot a quick look at Marley.  They hadn’t really talked about it but if Marley still didn’t want to hear details about her relationship, than Tina was going to respect that.

Unique caught Tina looking at Marley and looked between her friends.  “Is this a thing between you two? Because if it is tell me now.  I have an entire section in my closet dedicated to outfits to show I am Switzerland in a war between friends.  If I have to break that out I will.”

Marley giggled. “It’s not a thing. I just didn’t exactly want to hear details but you know what I saw painted the picture clear enough.  It’s just weird.”

“Hey you dated my ex.” Kitty shrugged her shoulders.  “And Unique is about to date the guy who followed you around all year like a puppy.  And I’m dating Tina’s ex.  This doesn’t even rate on a drama level.”

“Oh my God. Matt is right. We so need to date outside of the choir room.” Marley groaned.

“Well it’s not like we have much of a choice next year.” Kitty pointed out. Unique, Marley and Tina all stared at her in disbelief. Unique snapped first throwing a bracelet at Kitty while Tina hit her over the head with her magazine.  Marley tossed the sweater Unique rejected at Kitty’s head.  

“Wow thanks for that Debbie Downer.” Tina said as she dropped the magazine and reached for a pillow.  Kitty lifted her arms over her head to protect herself.

“What? I’m not happy about it but it is a fact.”

“One you didn’t have to mention.” Marley pointed out.

“Ladies we are supposed to be focusing on me here.” Unique gestured to the sweater and skirt she held in her hands.  “Now what do we think of this?”

“Perfect.” Tina declared as Marley and Kitty nodded their approval.  “Oh you know what would be perfect?  That pink bow headband you have?”

“Yes!” Marley agreed rushing to the vanity, rummaging through the various headbands, clips and barrettes before she found the one Tina was referring to.  Grabbing it she turned and pushed Unique’s hair back, securing it with the delicate band.  “Yes that’s perfect.”

“But what if his plan is to go hiking?” Unique asked.

“Hiking?” Tina shook her head. “Look I don’t know much because Jake calls bro code when I ask him but I know there is no hiking involved.”

“And we’re all sure Tina used her best persuasion skills to get that info out of Jake.” Kitty teased.  “In fact I’m sure that’s what she’s planning to do all weekend while house sitting. Persuade Jake to give her information.”

“How do you know I’m house sitting?”

Kitty shot Tina an unimpressed look.  “Blaine had his little freak out oversharing session while Sam was playing video games with Artie.  He’s your best friend. Tell him to freak out about your plan to turn his house into a sex shack quietly the next time.”

“Ok I really don’t want to hear about this.” Marley said quickly.

“Didn’t you walk in on them practically going at backstage?  You can’t be surprised they’re having sex.” Kitty asked.

“It doesn’t mean I want to talk about it.” Marley protested.  “Come on you guys know why we broke up.  Also who talks about the sex they are having with their friend’s ex.”

 

“Artie talks to Tina about our sex life all the time.”

“Not because I want him to. Believe me.” Tina pointed out.  “Artie has weirder boundary issues than you do.”

“Wait. You and Artie are having sex?” Unique asked as Marley turned red.  “When did this happen?”

“If you want to be technical about it, we haven’t.” Kitty waved her hands before smiling. “But we’ve done... _things_.”

“I knew you weren’t kidding about know he could twerk.” Unique nodded approvingly.  “Get it honey.”

“Can we talk about anything else? Please?” Marley asked.

“Marley if you ever hope to have sex one day you’re going to need to discuss it without turning the color of a tomato.” Kitty said.

“Well good thing that one day isn’t any time soon then.” Marley shoved Kitty’s shoulder as she sat down on the bed.  “I can discuss it just fine.  I just don’t want to hear details about what my friend is doing with my ex. Some of us have normal boundary issues.”

“How else are you going to know if you’re on their threesome list if you don’t discuss it?” Kitty wondered.

“OH MY GOD.” Marley grabbed the pillow out of Kitty’s lap and buried her face in it.  She opened one eye to see all her friends shaking with laughter.  “You say these things just to see what I’ll do don’t you?”

“Pretty much. You make it so much fun.” Kitty nodded.  “But seriously it’s crucial information you should have.”

“Yeah I think I’ll live in ignorance thanks.”

****  
  


“Alright if I ever want to leave Team Virgin I’m going to have to get through a first date first.” Unique pointed out. “Now that we have the outfit picked out can we please focus on shoes?”

“Absolutely” Tina said as Kitty nodded. Marley said a quick thank you while looking up at the ceiling.

“And then we’ll get back to discussing Tina’s sex shack plans.” Kitty added quickly, laughing when Marley groaned and buried her head in the pillow again.

“You really make this too easy.” Kitty laughed as she pulled the pillow away from her.  


	52. Chapter 51

“Please tell me there a no romantic comedies on the list for tonight.” Kitty groaned as she sank back on the sofa and leaned her head against Artie’s shoulder as he queued up the Netflix.  “I have hit my quota for the day. No the month. Actually you know what? The entire year.”

“Oh that’s right. Unique and Ryder’s date is tonight.” Artie snapped his fingers together.  

“Yes.  I left before I saw actual cartoon birds flying around Ryder’s head throwing hearts in the air.  Been there with Blaine and don’t need to see it again.  Then throw in Tina and Jake sneaking off together for the weekend…”

“Blaine wants me to randomly go to his house all weekend and play cockblock.”  Seeing Kitty raise her head from his shoulder, he hurried to reassure her. “I already told him no.  Tina’s scary enough.  I actively plan my days around not pissing her off.  You think I’d willingly court that by keeping her from getting laid?  I’m not stupid.”

“Good. Cause she would kill you and then call me to help you hide your body.” Kitty laid her head back down on his shoulder.  “And then Marley’s moping around because Matt won’t call her but at least I didn’t come here and find him listening to your horrible advice.”

“My advice is not horrible woman. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Artie stopped the cursor over Adam Sandler’s face. “ _Happy Gilmore_?”

“Eh” Kitty made a face but didn’t move.  “And your love life before me was a disaster so yes any advice you would give is automatically terrible.”

“But now I have you so clearly I have some wisdom.”

“Only because I overlook your obvious flaws. It’s a character flaw of mine.  Oh. That one.” She dug her nails into his side to stop the cursor.

“Really?”  Artie wrinkled his nose in distaste.  

“You suggested _Happy Gilmore_ and you’re judging me about _Ice Age_?”

“It’s Ray Romano.” Artie groaned.  “You know that.”

“Yes I know your completely irrational hatred of Ray Romano. I’ve dealt with romantic drama all day so deal with it.”

“The things I put up with because I love you.” Artie grumbled as he went to select the movie. At his words Kitty sat up and moved a little bit away from him.  He shot her a troubled look.  “What?  What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing.  Let’s just watch the movie.”  Kitty shook her head.

“Nope.  It’s not nothing.” Artie pushed the laptop off to one side.  “I’ve learned my lesson about ignoring your _nothings_.  What just happened?”

“Just...you said you loved me.” Kitty shrugged her shoulders and picked at a thread on the couch that only she could see.

“I thought that was a good thing.” Artie asked confused.

“It is. It’s just...look you’re leaving soon.”

“Yes I’m aware of that.”

“And we have our agreement.”

“Aware of that too.”

“It just….hit me. You’re not going to be telling me that much longer.” Kitty rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “I told you it was nothing.  It’s too much time around Marley today. I’m channelling her sap.”

“Hey maybe I like your sap? Ever think of that?”  He reached out and put his hand on top of hers, pulling her closer when she tried to pull away. “Hey.  No fair attempting to run away.”  

Putting his arm around her shoulder, Artie tried not to squirm when Kitty pinched his side.  He kissed the top of her head. “Look I thought you didn’t want to spend the entire summer being sad about missing my admittedly awesome presence in the fall.”

“Keep talking like that and I won’t miss it at all.”

“I’m going to miss you too you know.  And I’m not going to start pretending you’re not my girlfriend when I don’t have to.  So I’m going to tell you that I love you and I’m going to be best boyfriend I can be.”

“Wow.” Kitty smiled as she lifted her head up to look at him. “Way to aim low.”

“Cute. Real cute.” Artie laughed as Kitty scrunched up her nose before kissing him.  “And if I’m going to suffer through _Ice Age_ , then we’re going to continue on that Ingmar Bergman festival we started.”

“Those movies were on a list of movies only pretentious people love.  It wasn’t viewing suggestions. It was a hint about your personality.”

“Details.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Apologize to Marley or I will end you.**

Matt didn’t bother to respond to Kitty’s text.  For one thing she would probably continue to threaten him and for another he wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t follow through with anything she would think to threaten him with. This was vague enough to not worry about.  

The thing was he knew he should apologize to Marley. She hadn’t done anything wrong and Jake certainly seemed happy with Tina. He acted like an idiot and realized it about five minutes after he left her house.  Of course then he went to Artie’s and listened to Sam and Artie’s terrible advice about not calling her.  He was pretty sure there was some comments in there from someone (probably Artie) about being a man and not admitting weakness. But in all fairness that could have been about the video game they were playing.  He had kinda been on autopilot and only listened to every third word that was said to him.  

If it had just been the fight, he’d be feeling pretty optimistic about how this meeting he was planning at the Lima Bean was going to go.  But at this point, it wasn’t just the fight.  There had been the ignored texts and the unreturned phone calls.  That Matt was fully aware moved him to asshole category and he didn’t even really blame Kitty for threatening him at this point.

****  
  


Even Mike had yelled at him last night when he had finally told his best friend what was going on. He had known Mike since they were five years old and Mike never yelled at him.  

_“Matt you are an idiot.  In fact I’m rethinking our entire friendship you’re so stupid.”_

He was pretty sure there was no clearer indication you were doing the wrong thing than when Mike Chang judged you.

He took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the Lima Bean.  Marley sat at a corner table, her head bent over what he recognized as her song book.  She didn’t look up, but then again why would she?  She had no idea he was even coming. Kitty had sent him a detailed message about Marley’s plan for the night before her helpful suggestion to get his head out of his ass.

Maybe it was a bad idea to surprise her like this but at this point Matt was fairly certain she wasn’t going to return his calls or text. Not that he would blame her.  Sadly this was his best chance.

Making his way through the crowd he stopped just for a second before taking the last few steps to her table to take a breath. Gathering up as much courage as he could he forced himself to take the last few steps before resting his hand on the back of the empty chair across from her.

“This seat taken?”

Marley looked up startled.  “Matt? What are you….”

“Looking for you.” He admitted as he sat down.  “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Yeah. Um...yeah I wanted to talk to you too.” Marley closed her song book quickly, biting her lip before looking him in the eye.

“Oh sure.  You first.”

Marley tucked her hair behind her ear and looked over to the corner before blowing out a breath and looking back at him.  “I really like you Matt and I’ve had a great time being with you this summer.”

“Same here. I mean I really like you too.”

“And I’ve really hated the way I’ve felt since the last time I saw you.  I already told you I wasn’t going to choose between you and my friends. It felt like that’s what you were making me do.  And I haven’t done anything for you not to trust me.”

“I know you haven’t. That’s what I wanted to talk to you…”

“I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me.  Or who ignores me when I try to talk with them after a fight.  And avoids me.”

“Marley what are you saying?”  Matt asked slowly.

**  
“I don’t think I can be with you anymore.”**


	53. Chapter 52

“Ryder Lynn.” Unique stood up as he helped her out of the car, crossing her arms over her chest.  She fixed her best no nonsense glare at him.  “I know you don’t think hanging out at your house while I kick your ass at video games qualifies as a date.”

“What? No. I didn’t...I wouldn’t do that.” Ryder protested.  “Just trust me ok? I promise no video games.”

“You have about five minutes to impress me or I’m going to think video games really was your plan.”

“Trust me. If I thought Artie would think it was a great idea I rejected it as a plan on the spot.”

“That is the first wise thing you’ve said all night.” Unique paused as she notice a path leading to the backyard had been created with old pavers that she remembered being piled up in the corner of the Lynn garage. The path was light with paper bag luminaries that Unique hoped Jake had been in charge of setting up. (Not that she didn’t trust Ryder. Just she knew him and knew he could get distracted.  A distracted Ryder lighting things on fire was not a good mental picture.)  “Now this looks promising.”

“I told you. Trust me.” Ryder shot her a wink before taking her hand in his. “Now come on. This way.”

“I swear if this is some plan of yours to shove me in that pool….” She let the threat hang idle as he bypassed them from the gate leading to the backyard and kept going down the fence line. “Where on Earth are you taking me to?”

“Are you always this nosy on a date?”

“I do when people are leading me to the woods and not telling me why.  Horror movies start this way.”

“I promise you this is not a horror movie.” Ryder laughed before stopping at the small strip of green space between the start of the woods and the fences that dotted the neighborhood.  The pavers and luminaries led up to a picnic table that was set up with candles.  She could see two place settings complete with wine glasses.  A bag that she assumed contained their meal for the evening sat at the end of one bench.

“See? I told you it wasn’t a horror movie.” Ryder grinned proudly at himself.  “You’re speechless.”

“A picnic under the stars? That’s…..”

“Something you said you always hoped a guy would do for you.” Ryder nodded as he led them to the table.  He gestured for her to sit down.  “See I remembered.”

“I can see that.”   Unique said softly as she sat down and Ryder scurried over to the bag on the other side.  “I just never thought….”

“That I was listening?” Ryder guessed.  “I always listen to you.”

“Clearly.” Unique smiled as he rustled through the bag.  “No I was going to say I never thought anyone would do something like this for me.”

“Why wouldn’t they? You’re awesome and people should do awesome things for you.”

She shook her head, trying (and failing) to hide her smile.  “How..how did you even do all this?”

“Well it wasn’t easy.” Ryder pulled out the familiar Breadstix take out container.  “I was going to do this at the park but Jake pointed I’d have to get someone to watch it while I went to pick you up. And I’m pretty sure he or Artie would eat our dinner if they got hungry.  So I thought of having it here and then I just had to pay Tommy next door off in candy bars to make sure nothing happened.”

“Candy bars?”

“He’s six.” Ryder shrugged. “Works cheap.”

“Well he was well worth the money.  This is wonderful.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Ryder promised.

“Really and what do you have planned to top this?”

“Um…..nothing?  But I thought if this went well you might want to do something after? I just hadn’t figured out the after yet.”

Unique leaned forward, resting her chin on her fingertips.  “I’ll tell you what. If this dinner goes as well as this date has started, I’ll consider letting you take me out for ice cream afterwards.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll shove you in the pool and I’ll come back tomorrow to beat your sad pathetic self at whatever video game it is you think you can play.”

“Deal.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

With a satisfied sigh Tina leaned back and closed her eyes.  “I could get used to this.”

Jake snickered as she settle her weight against his chest. “You know you’ve been saying that since yesterday right?”

“Plan on saying it all weekend.”

So far housesitting for the Andersons was looking like the best summer job ever.  The refrigerator was fully stocked and the pool had just been cleaned earlier in the week.  Mrs. Anderson had even suggested she invite a few friends over to keep her company if she wanted.  “I’m pretty sure the neighbors think we’re never here anymore with you kids not coming and going all hours of the day.” she had laughed.  

She was planning on inviting the girls over tomorrow morning to rehash Unique’s date but there was no way Tina was planning on telling Mrs. Anderson Jake had shown up an hour after they had left and she had no plans on sending him home.  

Despite Blaine’s worries they hadn’t even had sex.  Yet.  She was not the sex crazed person with no control her best friend thought she was.  She had control.  And she had boundaries.  There would be no sex in the Anderson parents’ bedroom because Tina was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to look Mrs. Anderson in the eye again like ever.  Blaine’s room was out too but she was totally going to mess it up and have Kitty send him pictures just to drive him crazy.  The guest room that had once been Coopers that she currently had her stuff in seemed the least likely to encourage any inconvenient thoughts.  Plus she kind of knew Cooper and she had a feeling he’d totally approve.

A big gorgeous home.  Just her and her ridiculously hot boyfriend.  A pool that was calling her name in the back yard.  It was a dream right out of a bad teen comedy and it was a dream she fully intended on enjoying every minute of.

“I didn’t know half of these channels existed.” Jake commented as he continued to search for something to watch while they waited on their pizza to be delivered.  “You think they have channels that are designed just for them?”

“If you find one devoted to bow ties then I think the answer is yes.”

“Also do we know why there’s like a bunch of those Free Credit report ads saved on the DVR?”

“I guess Cooper visited recently.” Tina laughed before patting Jake’s upper thigh.  “Blaine’s brother.  I’ll explain him to you later.”

“Do you actually mean really talking for that? Cause most of the time when we say we’re going to talk one of us means other things and if you have something’s planned with Blaine’s brother I think we need to discuss that.”

“Perv.” Tina elbowed him in the side.  “Just for that I’m getting the last slice of pizza.”

“Oh you are are you?” Jake tossed the remote on the floor before turning his body. Looking up she noticed a split second too late the look in his eyes.  Glancing to the side, Tina saw his fingers moving in direction of her sides.

“Don’t. Don’t you even dare.” She warned him trying to move back on the couch to avoid the tickle attack she sensed was coming.

“Or what?” Jake smirked. She tried to jump from the couch but he was faster than her.  He grabbed her around her waist, causing Tina to shriek as he started to tickle her.  

“Stop it. Stop.” She laughed as she tried to twist her way free.  Jake tightened his grip on her waist and managed to toss her back on to the couch.  He leaned over top of her, pinning her underneath him.  Her giggles died in her throat as their eyes locked and they seemed to realize the situation they were in. Jake stilled his fingers, going from tickling to stroking her sides.  

She blew a piece of hair off her face before Jake raised a finger to trace her cheek.  “Still want that last piece?” He asked softly.

“I want something.” She answered back before pulling his face down to hers, fusing their lips together.  He pulled her lower lip into his mouth before his tongue met with hers.  The kiss turned into kisses, getting longer, slower and deliciously wetter.  Her breath hitched as she felt his hand slip underneath her shirt, stroking her bare skin.

DING DONG

Jake groaned, resting his forehead against hers as they heard the sound of the doorbell. Tina laughed and pushed at his shoulder.  “It’s the pizza.  Let me up.  I’ll get it.”

“Let’s pretend we aren’t here.”

“Then no more pizza all weekend.” Tina pointed out as she managed to sit up.  “We’ll eat and then we’ll see what we can do later. After all we have all weekend here. Plenty of opportunities.” She kissed his cheek as she stood up.  “Do me a favor and get my phone out of my purse? I promised my mom I would check in and if I do it now then she won’t interrupt us later.   It’s in the kitchen.”

She sprinted up, thanking the foresight she had to leave the pizza money on the table by the front door.  Tina was pretty sure the delivery guy had a pretty good idea what he had interrupted if his knowing leer was any indication.  She could almost see the cheesy porn inspired pick up line flash into his brain before she shut the door on him with a quick instruction to keep the change.  

Whistling she made her way back into the kitchen where Jake stood looking at her phone.  “Pretty sure the pizza guy thought he was about to live out his delivery boy porn fantasies.”

Jake didn’t respond.  He just kept looking at her phone. She deposited the pizza on the island before moving next to him. “I don’t have nude pictures on there but if you play your cards right you might get a live show later tonight.”

“You got an email notification.” Jake said slowly. “From Juilliard.”

“It’s probably just a SPAM message.” Tina shrugged reaching for her phone but Jake took a step back from her.

“It was addressed to you and it was the information you requested about auditioning by video?  You’re going to Columbia.  Why do you need information about auditioning for Juilliard?”

“Look Jake I can totally explain this.”

“Can you? Cause now that I think about it, the brochure Dianna gave me isn’t at my house. And I know that because my mom was looking for it the other day and accused me of throwing it out.”

“I saw your brochure and I wanted to help. So I’ve been making a few calls. It’s nothing. Let’s just eat our pizza and then watch a movie.”

“You’ve been talking to Juilliard about me?” Jake put her phone down on the island, his brow furrowed.  “Did I ask you to do that? Cause I don’t remember that.”

“You didn’t need to ask. I figured out it was your dream and I’m going to make sure you get it that’s all.”

“My dream?  It’s not my dream. I don’t even know what my dream is yet.”

“You don’t get that brochure just because you take the SATs. You have to ask for it.”

“Yeah which my dance teacher did. Not me.  My mom can’t even….” Jake took a breath and moved around the island.  “I can’t talk about this with you.”

“Why not? Why can’t we talk about your dream to move to New York?”

“Because that’s your dream not mine.  I thought you liked this whole thing we have with no plans and just seeing where it goes?”

“I do.”

“Then why are you trying to plan my future?  Especially when I didn’t ask you to?”

“I’m not planning your future. I’m helping you get to your future. Just like I helped Mike get his future.”

“Mike?” Jake shot her a confused look.  “Is this some weird need to fix whatever went wrong between you and Mike?”

“What? No.” Tina went to take a step towards him but Jake stepped farther away from her. “Jake. I don’t want you to be Mike. I like you find the way you are. I like the way we are.  I just thought…”

“You thought you would meddle.  I don’t need your help with this Tina.  This isn’t a possibility for me.  And it will never be.”

“It totally can be. You’re so talented. They’d be stupid not to take you.”

“It’s not about that.” Jake ran his hand over his head. “You...you can’t understand this.  You’ll never understand this.”

“Explain it to me. I’m great at getting around obstacles. I can fix this for you.”

“No Tina. You really can’t.”  Jake shook his head.  “I’m going to go.”

“What? Jake….” Tina gestured around the house.  “Over this?  We can talk about this. I don’t even know what this is.”

“That’s part of the problem.”


	54. Chapter 53

“Matt.” Artie’s smile as he opened the door quickly changed to a frown. “You look like hell.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Matt sighed as he came in and headed for Artie’s bedroom and the game consol.  “Let’s just blow up some computer pixels.”

It had been a long night after Marley shocked him with her announcement that she didn’t think they should see each other anymore.  He had been so shocked he hadn’t even said anything while she stated her reasons. Instead he had just sat and stared at her.  Hadn’t been able to make a single argument against it.  When she had finished, Marley hadn’t even let him take a second to even stumble through an argument. She had just got up and said she would see him around.

“In my experience, that usually means girl troubles.” Artie had on what Tina had dubbed his “director face”, his go to expression for when he wanted to seem wiser than he really was.  Tina had told him usually that look accompanied some really pretentious plan for a student film no one even pretended to understand but sometimes it was when Artie was trying to be helpful and full of advice.  Lucky him, Matt thought. This is clearly an advice time.

“In your experience that usually means you did something stupid.”  Matt pointed out as he started up the game, tossing the controller in Artie’s lap.

Artie paused to consider his statement before picking up the controller. “True. Which makes me an expert on recognizing a man who is having troubles with his woman. So don’t bother lying to me because I already know.  You’re regretting your fight with Marley and you’ve let this gone on too long and now you don’t know how to apologize even though really you didn’t do anything wrong.”   He nodded sagely.  “It’s a very common issues. I’ve written three scripts about it.”

“In any of these scripts have you written where you go to apologize and before you can even say anything she breaks up with you?” Matt didn’t take his eyes off the screen, pushing the buttons on the controller furiously.

“Marley broke up with you?” Artie let out a low whistle. “There’s a plot twist I didn’t see coming.”

“You know good friends don’t talk about their friends’ lives like they are movie script.”

“Some people just lack imagination.”  Artie shrugged.  “Besides it’s not like a break up between the two least dramatic people I know is going to inspire anything for me to write about. At least tell me you fought first. Politely I’m sure but tell me there was a fight.”

“There was no fight.  I didn’t even realize what was happening. I went to apologize and the next thing I knew she was telling me that she thought it’d be better if we broke up and then she was getting up and telling me she’d see me around.” Matt punched the buttons with way more force than was necessary.  “And I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Then don’t talk about it.” Artie shrugged.  “You’re a guy. You know how these things work.  But tough break man.  For what it’s worth I thought you two were really cute together.”

“Wow you really don’t know what not talking about it means do you?”

“Hey my life is in a good place right now and your’s is more interesting.” Artie put his controller down.  “So is like over for good? Or is there still a chance or what?”

“What part of she broke up with me are you not getting?”

Artie snapped his fingers. “That’s right. You weren’t here when Quinn and Finn got back together.  And Mr. Schue and Mrs. Schue getting married after she ran out of their first ceremony.  Just trust me.  If you want her back, I can help make that scenario happen.”

“Oh good. People.” Ryder paused in the doorway of the room, with a clearly grumpy Jake behind him.  “People who will communicate in words instead of grunts.”  Reaching behind him, Ryder grabbed Jake’s arm and dragged him into the room before shoving him towards Artie’s bed.  

“What are you doing here?” Artie asked puzzled as he raised a hand in greeting to Ryder.  Ryder flopped on the floor with his usual grace.  “I didn’t think we’d see you till the Andersons got back.”

Jake shrugged and Ryder rolled his eyes.  “He showed up last night after my date ended.  That’s all I’ve gotten out of him.  Except for some mumbles about Tina and meddling. So I’m guessing fight.  And since I was his cover story I get to listen to his grunts all weekend.”

“This is about Juilliard isn’t it?” Artie guessed. Jake raised his eyebrow and leveled a glare at Artie. Artie held his hands up in surrender.  “I told her it was a dumb idea and that she should drop it.”  Looking at Ryder and Matt he explained.  “Tina was trying to figure out how to get our boy over here auditioned and accepted at Juilliard and it looks like she never asked him if that was ok.”

“Dude. You want to go to Juilliard?  That’s awesome!”  Ryder cheered.

“Uh no I don’t. That’s kind of why I’m pissed at her.”

“He speaks!” Ryder smiled.

“In all fairness Tina has spent entirely too much time with Blaine and Mike who are way too polite to tell her to mind her own business.”  Artie shook his head.  “Ryder our friends here are pathetic.  As the ones with the most stable relationships right now it is up to us to show them the errors of their ways.”

“Wait.” Ryder twisted around to look at Matt.  “What about you and Marley?  Are you still fighting?”

“She dumped him.” Artie said solemnly, easily batting away the controller Matt threw at him.  “We’ll get into all the details and then I will introduce you all to a long standing New Directions tradition.  The apology/make up serenade.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“On thank God you’re here.” Kitty sighed as she opened the door to find Unique standing there.  Without waiting for her to even take a step, Kitty reached out and pulled her friend into the Anderson home.  “I am this close to throwing them in the pool.”

“Kitty Wilde what are you talking about? And I know I told you about rushing my entrance.”

“Whatever. Come on. You’ll see.” Kitty gestured for Unique to follow her down the hallway to the living room.  When she reached the doorway Unique stopped and shot Kitty a puzzled look. Kitty just waved her hand towards the couch where Marley sat with her head in Tina’s lap.  The coffee table was littered with used tissues and remnants of a junk food binge.

“What in the name of Beyonce….”

Kitty put her hand up. “I am not going through this again.  Tina and Jake had a fight because she was going to fill out his Juilliard application for him and he walked out.  And before Tina got any so she’s pissed and horny.  Marley’s an idiot and broke up with Matt so she’s wallowing.  They are pretty much egging each other on in a pathetic shame spiral.”

“We’re right here you know.” Tina pointed out.

“Yes I’m aware of you and your anger at not getting laid.” Kitty rolled her eyes before sitting down in the leather club chair.  “Which is completely your fault.”

“No it’s not.” Marley protested sadly. “Boys suck and girls rule. Sisters forever and all that.” She threw up a half hearted fist that Tina bumped with her own. Kitty shook her head at them.

Unique shot a glance at Kitty. “How long have they been like this?”

Kitty shrugged.  “I’ve been here like 20 minutes and Marley was here before me.”

“There is nothing wrong with us.” Tina protested.  “Marley and I have been bonding over the shortcoming of the male half of the population.”

Marley, still on laying her head on Tina’s lap, nodded.  “We’re giving up men.  Tina’s my girlfriend now.”

“And that’s what they were deciding when I came in.” Kitty said.

“Grandmother Adams give me strength.” Unique sighed.  “I have clearly come at the right time.  No more of this.  Kitty get rid of the junk food. It’s only encouraging them.  Marley sit up. If you want someone to play with your hair, I’ll do it only if you sit at my feet so the style won’t look horrible when I’m done.  Tina you are going to start a pot of coffee because I need caffeine to get through this.  Then we are going to do the following  things. First I will remind you that we are supposed to be discussing the details of my date with Ryder but like the good friend I am I will put that off until we discuss this mess you two have gotten yourself into for exactly one hour.  Total not each.  Then we will discuss my date to remind ourselves that occasionally boys do get things right.  We will then eat something healthy for lunch and we will figure out a solution to your problems.  Because I am not spending the end of the summer with your two being such Debbie Downers. Do I make myself clear?’

Kitty bit back a laugh as Marley and Tina nodded.  Unique clapped her hands together.  “Let’s go ladies.” She announced. “We have a plan to follow.”

  
As her friends started to do the tasks she assigned them, Unique settled back into the chair she claimed as her’s. “Honestly you three would never survive without me.”


	55. Chapter 54

“Blaine.” Artie started without preamble when Blaine answered his phone.  “Your girl done messed up.”

“Hello to you too, Artie.” Blaine laughed.

“I got it all under control but I felt you need to know that you’ll be walking into a potential shit storm at the party.”

“Thank you for that vague and not at all helpful information.”

“Look you just leave Tina and Jake to me. I’ll have it all sorted out and fixed before you leave for New York.”

“You’re going to fix Tina and Jake?” Blaine asked skeptically.  “You?”

“My relationship skills are legendary.”

“Not for the reason you’re thinking.”  Blaine pointed out.  “I think you’ve insulted more girls than even Puck.”

“I prefer to think of my past mistakes as growth opportunities.” Artie nodded to Ryder standing behind the counter as he made his way into the Lima Bean.  Ryder held up an empty coffee cup with a thumbs up sign.  Artie nodded, agreeing to the offer of his usual order.  There were advantages to having a friend work in his favorite coffee shop.  No waiting around when the line was long was a pretty sweet perk.

“So did you call me just to tell me to stay out of your master plan or did you want to tell me what Tina did so I can yell at her for you?”

“No I wanted to tell you what was up so that when Tina comes crying to you for sympathy you can tell her that I was right and her idea was a dumb one.”

“Do I get to know what the idea was?”

“Details” Artie dismissed the question with a wave of his hand, smiling as Ryder came over with his drink.  He mouthed Blaine’s name to Ryder as he sat down at the table.  “Look just trust me I have it all under control.  We’re going to have to adjust the entrance you all make at the party to make it more dramatic but it will get maximum tear factor. Trust me.”

“Maximum tear factor? Out of your girlfriend? Did you dump Kitty and start dating someone else?”

“Ha ha. You know her love for you is one of the things that bonded us together.”

There was a long pause as Blaine tried to work out how to respond to Artie’s statement. “Thank you?”

“You’re welcome. Listen tell Kurt we’re going for maximum drama here and to not improvise on the plan.  He knows I hate that.  I’ll talk to you later.”

Hanging up the phone, Artie turned towards Ryder.  “So you’re clear on your part?”

“Yeah I just don’t get why that song? I mean it’s fun and all but it’s kind of….”

“Classic. It’s a classic.” Artie interrupted. “And it’s a classic I know Kitty loves.  Also it’s theme of longing is perfect for Jake and Matt.”

“I know I’m not an expert here but why is Jake apologizing again?”

“Because Tina overstepped and Jake overreacted. Trust me I’m going to work with Tina on an appropriate song choice herself.  That’s why we’re meeting today.”

“Does Tina know this?” Ryder looked around the shop nervously.  

“Tina knows my artistic vision can not be denied.”

“So our love lives are just to serve your artistic vision?” Ryder questioned.

“You should have been here when he told Blaine and Rachel they needed to have sex to make their acting look real.” Tina said dryly from behind Ryder.  Both Ryder and Artie jumped in their chairs.  Neither had seen her approached.  Sometimes Artie wondered if her lie to Figgins that her dad was the Vampire King was really a lie.  After all the best way to make people think you weren’t a Vampire Princess was to say you really were one.  Artie made a quick note in his phone to develop that story further for his attempt to reinvent the horror genre.  

“You are way too good at that.” Ryder told Tina, pointing his finger towards her. “And I’m going to back to work.  Unique and I have plans tonight and I’m not going to be late.”

Tina smiled at him and squeezed Ryder’s hand as he got up to leave. “She seems really happy Ryder.  I’m happy for you guys.”

“Thanks.” Ryder smiled brightly.  “Now no killing each other while I’m gone.  I’d be the one to clean up and I don’t want to to do that.”

“And just why would there be bloodshed?” Tina asked, giving him her best vampire eye as she dropped her purse on the table.

“I’m immune to your vampire eye. You know that” Artie told her as he pulled his Ipad out from his backpack on the back of his chair.  “We need to discuss song selections for your apology to Jake for attempting to run his life.”

“ _Excuse me_?”

“You heard me. I told you Jake wasn’t Mike and he wouldn’t just thank you for doing his college applications for him.  You screwed up and you need to apologize.”

“Whether or not I apologize is none of your business.”

“You’re my friend. He’s my boy.  And you both have potential to wreck my girl’s birthday so yeah it’s my business.” Artie argued pushing his glasses up his nose.  “Consider this valuable help from one friend to another.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I just got some information.” Tina argued, crossing her arms across her chest.  

“Did he ask you to?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Kinda is.” Artie argued back.  “Tina I’m saying this from a place of love. As one of your oldest friends someone has to tell you.  You’re a meddler.”

“I do not meddle. I help. It’s an expression of my love.”

“Your love looks a lot like meddling.”  Artie said bluntly.  “Woman you realize you’ve gone through trash in your effort to help people who didn’t ask you to?  That’s not helping someone it’s a cry for help.”

“Some people never ask for help and then they never realize their true potential.  Some people are fine with hiding their true dreams because they think that’s what other people want.”  Tina fixed a hard stare at Artie.  “And some people need to realize they can’t actually direct people like they are actors in a movie.”

“God wouldn’t life be great if I could.” Artie sighed. “Look you’ve been really happy this summer and it’s just been nice to see after this year of Super Angry Tina. I’d hate to see her come back when you can do something about it.”

“Artie I love you. But you  need to butt out.” Tina grabbed her bag and marched towards the exit.

“You screw up my party and no cake. Do you hear me? No cake.” Artie called after her, shaking his head as she didn’t even turn around.  “She didn’t even look at my genius song selection. See if I use her in my Oscar entry.”

 


	56. Chapter 55

“You love me right?” Artie asked a sheepish expression on his face as he approached the spot outside the theater where they normally met.

“Not when you start off conversations like that.” Kitty said sharply fixing her best steely glare on him.  “What did you do?”

“It wasn’t me. It’s my mom. And I’m going to remind you that you like my mom.”  Artie closed his eyes and braced himself for a physical blow.  “My mom is declaring a mandatory trip to see my grandparents the weekend of your birthday.  And did I ever mention they live in Illinois?”

He opened one eye a crack to see Kitty’s eyes narrow.  “So you’re telling me you’re going to miss my birthday.  One of the last times we get to spend together and you’re going to be visiting your grandparents instead of being at my party?”

“I’d rather be at your party.” Arite promised quickly.  “My grandpa’s idea of high cinema is watching Dirty Harry movies all day.” He shuddered a little at the thought of it.

“Number one Dirty Harry is a classic and you know it.  Don’t disrespect the Eastwood. Second I can’t believe you’re going to miss my birthday.  Did you even try to get out of this?  Did you tell your mom it’s my birthday? She likes me better than you. That might work.”

“I tried.” Artie promised, holding up his fingers in a Boy Scout salute.  He hid his crossed fingers between his leg and the arm of his chair.  At this point Kitty did not need to know he washed out of Boy Scouts in the first grade.  “She pulled the whole _I haven’t seen my grandparents since graduation and life is short and they won’t be around forever Arthur_ guilt trip.  I can’t work around that. It’s like the ultimate Mom card before she can start using grandchildren”

Kitty shook her head, her displeasure about the situation written all over her face. “You do realize if I decide to be a good sport about this the make up birthday you’re going to owe me will be so huge?  Like Blaine’s proposal will pale in comparison to it big?”

“It will be so big that he will wish he took me up on my offer to direct the entire thing.” Artie made a cross his heart motion to sell the promise.  

“And it will be my choice for the movie tonight and you’re getting the tickets and popcorn.”  She added on quickly.

“Really? _The Wolverine_? “

“Hey I slept through _Girl Most Likely_ for you. And who is missing who’s birthday again?”

“Fine” Artie sighed rolling his eyes.  “One movie of Hugh Jackman running around half naked while the script completely and totally ignores years of comic book canon coming up.”

Kitty smiled at him. “I’ll go find a spot in line for the popcorn. Meet you inside.”

Artie made his way to the line for tickets as Kitty skipped inside.  He fished his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick group text.  Ok he felt a little bad for exploiting his friends’ current romantic woes but in his career as a director he had learned that sometimes real life created the best moments.  He did his part now it was time for everyone else do theirs.

_The ball is in play_ , he texted.   _The ball is in play_.

**I still don’t get how this code is going to be less suspicious if Kitty looks through your text messages** Ryder responded.  

_Just...just go with it Ryder_.

**Fine. And you claimed Nightbird was the bossy one.**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“All of your other friends suck and you are now my only friend.” Kitty announced as she threw herself into the armchair at the Lima Bean the next morning across from Marley.  

Marley bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.  Looks like Artie’s plan was working exactly how he insisted it would.  Instead of laughing, she slowly closed her notebook and leaned forward.  “And why do they suck this time?  Do they still think Vin Diesel doesn’t deserve an Oscar?”

“Yes but I had decided to overlook that lack of judgement and be the bigger person.  Now I should have seen it as a red flag.” Kitty tossed her phone over into Marley’s lap. “Read the texts.  You’ll see.”

Biting down on her lip harder to keep from smiling, Marley scrolled through the assorted excuses as to why suddenly no one would be around for Kitty’s birthday.  She winced when she saw Matt’s explanation that he didn’t want to ruin Kitty’s party because of things being awkward between the two of them.  God he was such a nice guy.  

She missed being around him.  And as much as she preached that she didn’t need a man to make her feel complete, she missed being a part of a couple. Especially when Kitty and Unique left last night for their dates.  She could have hung out with Tina but she was pretty sure it was only a matter of time before Jake or Tina cracked and apologized.  Plus they were just fighting. It wasn’t an actual break up.  

And she still hated that Artie wanted Matt to use that as a reason to cancel on Kitty but she wasn’t exactly in a position to argue against it.  The break up had been her idea after all.

“Everyone cancelled?” she asked, trying her best to sound surprised.

“Everyone but you. Lamest party ever.  I am not spending all night watching _My Little Pony_ and braiding your hair.”

“The party is not going to be lame.” Marley protested. “We are two highly attractive women. We are fun. We are adventurous.”

“One of us still sleeps with a teddy bear.” Kitty chimed in.

“I’ve seen your room. That doesn’t work on me.” Marley pointed out.  “Look we’ll still have fun.  We’ll more fun than if everyone else was with us.” She clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh! I know! We’ll do karaoke and do every Marilyn Manson song they have in the book.  We’ll do them twice.  Three times even. We’ll do so much Marilyn Manson we’ll get banned for life”

“You?” Kitty asked, clearly amused. “You are going to sing Marilyn Manson with me?”

“I know the words to _Beautiful People_.” Marley protested.  Seeing Kitty’s skeptical look she amended her statement.  “Ok I know the chorus to that song. But you know I pick up lyrics crazy quick.  Plus it’s your birthday and I know how much you’ve wanted to do exactly that.  So what do you say?  Is it a party?”

Marley bounced up and down in the chair a little bit and made sure to look pleading.  She thought about sticking out her bottom lip but that might tip Kitty off that something was going on.  She kept her eyes on Kitty as she rolled her eyes at Marley’s actions.

“Ok fine if you’re going to act like an actual five year old about it.” Kitty sighed, her smile contradicting her annoyed tone.

“Yay!!!!” Marley cheered. “You’ll see we’ll have a blast.”

“I’m sure we’ll have something.” Kitty joked.  She took a breath before letting out a sigh. “Marley? Thanks.”

“Any time.”

 


	57. Chapter 56

She really didn’t know how she continued to let herself get talked into these things. Shoving through the back to school crowd, Tina managed to escape the party supply store and into the main corridor of the mall.

It wasn’t that Tina minded doing things to help out.  And really Marley and Artie had done most of the planning for Kitty’s party picking up everything wasn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.   Plus she did still need to get a present for Kitty so picking up the supplies was a good chance to get that done.  The sticking point was that since Marley was now distracting Kitty from the actual party preparation, Artie was the one who was actually planning and everything. And Artie was a controlling pain in her ass.

Maybe they should have gone along with his idea to spend the summer making a documentary. At least then he’d be more concerned about his daily footage and editing jobs than texting her every five seconds to make sure she was going to pick up the “ _correct party hats for the mood I’m going for Tina_.”   It was a tiara with flashing lights that said Birthday Girl. The mood he was getting was tacky.  

And if it wasn’t Artie texting her, it was Blaine with updates on his and Kurt’s travel plans.  Or Kurt with further revisions on the travel plans.  Or Sam was texting needing her to send paperwork to their new landlord.  And then resend it because it wasn’t New York real estate if everything didn’t get lost at least three times before it was finalized. Plus because they had sense Ryder, Unique and Matt didn’t want to deal with Artie directly so they sent any questions they had about the party to her.

Her phone was blowing up with texts and calls and not one of them was from the person she actually wanted to contact her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know what he was doing. Ryder and Matt had both seen him and passed along general information.  Which was useless since neither one of them knew the first thing about how pass along information or being observant.  Unique was better at gathering intel but Jake was constantly leaving when she showed up at Ryder’s.  Kitty would have been perfect but Kitty was busy being angry at everyone for abandoning her on her birthday.  Well maybe she wasn’t actually angry but she wasn’t above milking it for all it was worth.  And even though she normally had no issues of enlisting anyone and everyone to get the gossip she wanted. she did have to admit it seemed a little wrong to ask Marley get information on her ex-boyfriend.  She may be a gossip but she had standards.

A part of her was aware she could just call Jake but a larger part was afraid he wouldn’t take her call.  She tried texting him the day after the fight but he didn’t respond.  Then Marley showed up and well Tina was woman enough to admit they wallowed. By the time the wallowing finished she was convinced she had nothing to apologize for. She was doing what a girlfriend is supposed to do. She was looking out for her boyfriend’s dreams and making sure he could achieve them.  Which totally includes giving pushes even if he didn’t ask for one.

Everyone did that for people they cared about. Would Rachel and Kurt even be in New York in the first place if Finn and Blaine hadn’t pushed them to go? She didn’t think so.  Mike would be studying to be a doctor and miserable if she hadn’t stepped in. Didn’t Sam and Santana push Brittany to go to MIT?  Really history was on her side.  If anyone needed to apologize it was Jake.

Her phone buzzed from her pocket.  She let out an aggravated sigh. “I swear I’m going to throw this into the fountain if you don’t stop texting me.” She said as she put her bags down to fish out her electronic tether.

“I certainly hope that’s not my son who’s driving you so crazy.”

Tina jerked her head up, seeing Jake’s mom standing next to her with an amused smile on her lips.  Leaving her still buzzing phone in her pocket, she offered an embarrassed smile.  “Ms. Clark.  No it’s not Jake. I mean I don’t go around threatening to off innocent electronics all the time or anything but this isn’t Jake’s fault.” She gestured to the bags at her feet. “I’m on supply duty for Kitty’s party.  Artie is a little hands on in his party planning.”

“Oh yes. The party.” Ms. Clark nodded.  “And why isn’t my son helping you with this?  I know he’s not working since I just left him and Ryder at the house.”

“Oh….umm….” Tina bit her lower lip. “It’s really better if Artie has only one person he can contact at all hours.”

Ms. Clark nodded but Tina could tell she didn’t believe her for a second.  “And plus I think Jake is helping with getting Blaine and Kurt there without Kitty finding out.”

“Yes he did ask about driving up to Columbus to pick them up.” Ms. Clark said slowly.  “Since I have you here, you don’t happen to know why my son has been moping around the house for the past week?  And how it’s related to you not being around?”  Tina felt her eyes widen as Ms. Clark laughed.  “Honey I may be busy but I’m not blind no matter what Jake tells you.  Also he’s not that good of a liar.”

Privately Tina couldn’t help but feel a little happy that Jake was moping around since their fight.  Not that she wanted him to be miserable but it was nice to know he was unhappy about this situation as she was.  Now if only he could realize it would all be ended with a simple apology.  “We had a fight.  About school. I saw his Juilliard brochure and he…..didn’t react well to my interest in it.”

His mom nodded, her eyes going a little distant.  “I was wondering where that disappeared to.”

“Yeah. Guilty.”  
  


“Well I can guess how that conversation went.” Ms. Clark shook her head.  “”At least now I know what to talk to him about.  Normally I would wait for him to come to me but I can only take his moping for so long.”

Tina nodded and felt her face slid into annoyance as she caught sight of Bree walking towards them with two of the freshmen cheerleaders whose names Tina couldn’t remember trailing in her wake.  “Tina.” Bree trilled with false friendship as she stopped in front of them.  “Long time no see.”

“Not long enough.” Tina said tightly.

“Haven’t seen you with Jake for awhile now.  Did he hit it and quit it just like I told you he would?”

“Excuse me?” Ms. Clark interrupted quickly, causing the freshmen to scurry to the other side of Bree in fear.

“Bree have you met Jake’s mom?” Tina asked, trying not to laugh.  She actually wished Artie was with her, camera rolling to capture the moment.

To her credit, Bree looked embarrassed.  “Oh look at the time.” she sputtered out. “Gotta go. Bye T!”

“Bye!” Tina called out, barely keeping from laughing.  “I’m sorry she’s just been a pain all summer long.”

“And just who was that little girl?”

“Bree.” Tina waved her hand. “She’s on the Cheerios. She was kind of in the middle of Jake and Marley’s break up and I think maybe she thought there was going to be something more happening than already. And she’s been pissed at Jake ever since it came clear he didn’t want anything else from her.  Plus she never really liked the glee club for reasons I don’t understand so I’ve all got all strikes against me in her book.”

“She was part of the break up with Marley?”  Ms. Clark questioned.  “Seems I may need to have a talk with Jake about topics other than college.”

Tina looked over at the fountain and wished she could fall in and hit her head again.  She had the sinking sensation she just made her situation with Jake worse instead of better.  


	58. Chapter 57

“Matt! _Come on_!”  His cousin Lisa pulled on his arm as he walked into the Lima Community Pool.  Her brothers Steven and Luke had ran in the second he stopped the car, leaving him behind to get all the towels and the bag his aunt had insisted they bring.  At four Lisa was just young enough to actually listen when her mom had told her to listen to him.  So she complained about him being slow but hadn’t actually gone into the complex without him.  

“Let me find a spot to put our stuff LiLi.” Matt told her while he adjusted the bag on his arm.  “And I have to make sure your brothers aren’t drowning each other.”

“You’re taking forever.”  Lisa stomped her foot in annoyance.

“I’m going as fast as I can.” He promised her.

With an eye roll that he knew Kitty would be proud of, Lisa turned around. She took about three steps before stopping in front of him, causing him to nearly fall on top of her.  “Hey! Isn’t that the girl from your phone?” she asked pointing towards a group of chairs near the concession stand.

Looking over, Matt saw Marley, Unique and Kitty arranging their towels on chairs.  Ryder stood behind Unique’s chair shaking his head.  As if he knew Matt was looking at him, Ryder turned and caught his eye, waving them over.

“They want us to come over. Let’s go.” Lisa grabbed his hand and started walking to where his friends were sitting.  Matt scanned the other chairs, looking for anyone to rescue him from this awkward situation.  He did spot his cousins attempting to dunk each other but no one else came into sight.

“Hi!” Lisa said brightly as she brought them to a stop right in front of Marley’s chair.  

Marley’s eyes darted nervously to his while Ryder came over to help him put down his stuff.  She switched her attention back to Lisa.  “Hi. What’s your name?”

“Lisa.”  She looked Marley up and down with a smile. “You’re pretty than the picture Matt has in his phone.”

“Oh I like this one.” Unique laughed as Marley blushed.  She patted a spot next to her on the chair.  “You come over here and tell me more about the pictures Matt has on his phone.”

“Ok” Lisa happily skipped over to Unique while Kitty didn’t even try to hide her laughter.

“What are you guys doing here?” Matt asked quickly hoping to change the subject.  “Why aren’t you at your pool Kitty? Or Ryder’s?”

Ryder’s eyes darted to where Lisa was sitting. He caught Unique’s eye and she covered Lisa’s ears with her hands. “Jake and Tina have apparently had s-e-x in my pool and I’m not swimming in it again until it’s been drained and cleaned.”

“Ok first off who spells and covers the kid’s ears?  Secondly if they used his pool for their dirty fantasies then they’ve probably used mine too.” Kitty pointed out.  “I’m not going back in that pool until it’s been certified by the EPA.”

“Wait...how did you find out…” Matt started to ask but Ryder cut him off with a shake of his head.

“Tina was texting Blaine and Unique at the same time.  And she meant to tell Blaine but told Unique instead.”

“I of course told everyone.” Unique added with a proud smile.  “If you had checked your texts you two could have shared in the fun.”

“Fun for those whose pools hadn’t been defiled.” Kitty pointed out. “Although I am always up for Ryder losing his mind.”

“Matt I wanna go swimming.” Lisa spoke up, swinging her feet in the air.  “You said we’d go in once we got here.”

Unique and Ryder exchanged a look before Matt could even answer her.  “You want to go swimming?” Ryder leaned down to look Lisa in the eye.  As she nodded, Ryder broke out into a wide grin. “Well so do I and these lame girls don’t want to go in with me.  Will you go with me so I’m not alone?”

“I’m not supposed to go with strangers.” Lisa said seriously.

“Well I’m Ryder and I’m friends with Matt.”  He gestured his hand to Matt, who nodded.  “So we aren’t really strangers.  What do you say?”

Lisa looked up at Matt, her eyes questioning.  He nodded at her.  “Go on.  Have fun with Ryder.”

Unique stood up. “I’ll go with you. Because when Ryder gets yelled at for starting a splash war someone is going to need to look after you.”

Lisa grabbed Ryder’s hand and the two of them bounced off to the shallow end of the pool, Unique following behind them.  Kitty looked between Matt and Marley and let out a sigh.  “I’m going to go be elsewhere while you two pretend to not be checking each other out.  Please remember there are children present and Jake and Tina are not the examples you want to follow.  I’m going to pretend not to spy you and text everything to Artie now.”

Grabbing her phone, Kitty jumped up from her chair. Before she made a retreat to the snack stand, she shoved Matt towards her now vacant seat next to Marley, forcing him to sit.  For someone so tiny she was super strong.  “Have fun and don’t do anything Jake and Tina wouldn’t do.  Although what that leaves out I’m not sure.”

Marley and Matt stared after her as she swished her way across the pool deck, waving off the leer of a beefy jock.  When Matt turned his head, he caught Marley’s eye. Blushing she looked down to the concrete.  “You don’t have to sit here.  Kitty’s just being...Kitty.  She’s trying to torture everyone for not making her birthday party.  I promise she really hasn’t figured out your Facebook password.”

“Marley?”  Matt reached out to touch her hand and smiled when she didn’t pull it away from him. “Look Kitty isn’t subtle at all but sitting next to you? Isn’t torture.  Never has been.”

With her free hand, Marley covered her face to try to cover her blush.  It didn’t work but Matt had to admit it was a cute attempt.  Lowering her hand she shot him a grin. “So I’m prettier than the picture in your phone?”  

It was his turn to groan.  “I am never letting her out of the house again.”

“You can’t do that she’s adorable.”  Marley bit her lip before taking a deep breath.  “And it’s pretty cute that you babysit her.”

“Oh well in that case, I’m going to have defer college and be her permanent baby sitter.”

****  
  
  



	59. Chapter 58

"Alright alright alright." Sam clapped his hands together as he surveyed Matt's room. Matt tried to hide his smile as Sam dropped his backpack next to the air mattress on the floor before sitting on the mattress, bouncing a little to test the firmness.  Kurt had texted him the other day to let him know that Sam would almost certainly would do his Matthew McConaughey impression at some point during the weekend.  “It’s his go to when he’s nervous” Kurt’s text had explained.  “It will stop after awhile.  The longest I’ve known him to keep it up was an hour.”

“Look I know this is a little….awkward.” Matt offered as he sat down on his own bed.  “We don’t even know each other but we pretty much know all the same people.”

“Yeah it’s almost like we’re in a movie where we’re the same person living two different lives. “ Sam nodded.  His eyes lit up. “Do you think we are the same person?  And we just don’t know it yet? What if we figure that out this weekend and disrupt the space time continuum?”

“Ummmm…..yeah pretty sure that’s not going to happen?”  Matt raised his eyebrow.  Kurt had mentioned Sam’s love of sci fi movies but had clearly failed to give all the details.  “But if it does I guess we’ll just have to deal with the consequences?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got several zombie apocalypse survival plans based around Lima.” Sam nodded seriously.  “But for real I appreciate you letting me crash here.  And like don’t worry about me hanging around if you’ve got plans with Marley.  I’m like an expert at being sexiled.  I could teach classes.”

Matt could feel himself blush.  “Yeah….that’s good to know but not necessary.  Marley and I well I guess we kind of broke up?  It’s kind of weird.”

“You are in luck because weird break ups are also something I could teach a class in.” Sam sat up straighter and leaned forward.  “You didn’t cheat on her or anything where I’d need to kick your ass right?  Cause you seem cool but Marley’s my girl and you know…”

“We had a fight about her hanging out more with Jake. It was my fault.  And when I tried to apologized she broke up with me. But we hung out the other day and everything seemed fine.  Maybe even some mutual flirting going on.”  With a groan, Matt laid down on the bed.  “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“Because I’m the break up master.” Sam moved himself to sit at the foot of the bed.  “Look this is easy.  You apologized which puts you ahead of like 95% of our friends. Seriously.  And she’s talking to you which is even better. You stick with me and I’ll have you two back together in no time.”

Matt raised an eyebrow in Sam’s direction as Sam patted Matt’s ankle.  “I suppose you’re going to say I should sing her a song at Kitty’s birthday party?”

“Hey mock all you want. It’s worked for Artie and me plenty of times.” Sam pointed out.  “No woman has been able to resist the power of song.” He cocked his head to the side. “Well except that one time Jake sang to Marley while they were breaking up. But it wasn’t really an attempt to win her back so that doesn’t count.  It’s too bad the Biebs went off the deep end cause man, his songs? His songs were money.  No one can resist the Biebs.”

“You want me to trust you and you’re talking about Justin Bieber?”

“Don’t mock the Beiber when you haven’t experienced the power of the Bieber.  You watch what happens when I hit up the crowd with some _Baby_.”

“Oh I for sure will be there to watch the crowd hit you.” Matt smiled.

Sam smiled back. “Just wait.  I’ll find you the perfect song and then...you’ll remember that I was right.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The knocking wouldn’t stop.  It hadn’t stopped for five minutes now.  Most of the time Jake liked the fact Ryder was a drummer.  It made for some fun jam sessions and when they occasionally talked about starting a band they never had to fight about who would play lead guitar.  But then there were times like these when Ryder refused to take a hint and he just wouldn’t stop knocking.  During those times, once Ryder realized he was being ignored he would start pounding out a drum beat on the door.  Sometimes it was even a song.  Right now it was just driving Jake up a wall.

“Ryder I’m going to kick…” The words died in Jake’s throat as he flung open the door and didn’t find Ryder standing there as he expected. Instead Unique stood on his front porch smiling a knowing smile at him. “I thought you were Ryder.”

“You were supposed to.” Unique nodded. She didn’t wait for him to invite her in. She pushed him aside and made her way into the living room, looking around the furniture either judging it or wondering if it was ok to sit where he had been playing video games.  “He told me you like to pretend to not be home but you can’t ignore him when he starts knocking.”

“I’m going to kick his ass for telling you that.”  Jake muttered under his breath as he shut the front door. Unique perched herself at the edge of the couch while casting her eyes up and down his body.  “Can I help you?”

“Well you certainly look like you’ve showered at least.  That will make part of this easier.”  Pushing back her hair behind her ears, she crossed her legs and rested her hands on top of them.  “Sit.  You and I need to have a talk.”

“We do?”  He would never in a million years be able to explain it, but when Unique asked you to sit, you sat. Even if you had no intention of doing just that.  He sat down in his mom’s favorite chair.

“Now I am not one to meddle.” Unique began ignoring his snort of disbelief.  “I did not get involved in that mess you made with Marley even though by best friend rights I could have and been completely in the right. So keep that in mind when I tell you that I am here to help you and it is in your best interest to listen to me.”

“And what exactly do I  need help with?”

“Many things if I’m being truthful but I am here today only to talk to you about Tina.”

Letting out a groan, Jake shook his head. “Unique this is really none of your business.”

“Are we friends?”

“Yes?”

“Then it’s my business.” She nodded with authority.  “Look honey you and I both know Tina was born without the ability to keep her nose in her own business.  It’s one of the reasons why we love her.  And we both know that she only does this for people she really cares about.”

“There’s a lot more to this than that.” Jake pointed out.  “Things that Tina just can’t understand.”

“Not if you don’t tell her.” Unique said bluntly.  “I’ll admit I was surprised by the unlikely event of your coupling but you both have been happy this summer.  And I like my friends happy.  If there is something else going on tell her.  Tina is many things but she isn’t psychic.  And you know we’d all know if she was. She’d be running a psychic hotline right now if just for the gossip”

“Does Ryder know who he’s dating?”

“You mean a fabulous human being with perfect taste in clothing and friends?  Yes I think he does.” Unique stood up.  “You think about what I said or I will be forced to do something drastic.”

“Define drastic.”

“Honey I don’t have to define it. You’ll know it when it happens.”

**  
  
**


	60. Chapter 59

“Feet off the coffee table” Andrea said automatically as she came in the front door to find Jake and Ryder sitting on the couch playing video games, both of their feet propped up on the furniture.  “Hi Ryder.”

“Hi Ms. Clark” Ryder gave a distracted wave as both boys followed her direction and put their feet on the floor.  She pretended not to notice the sigh Jake let out as he did what he was told.  Picking and choosing her battles, she had learned was the key to raising a teenager and not kill them in the process.  

“Are you staying for dinner Ryder?” she called out as she made her way to the kitchen.  She really needed to go to the grocery store but if Ryder was staying she could possibly find something that could feed three instead of the leftovers she had been planning on reheating.  

“Oh no thanks” Ryder answered, his eyes never leaving the TV screen as his fingers flew over the controller.  Judging by the grunts coming from Jake, whatever game they were playing Ryder was winning.  “Unique and I are going out tonight.”

“Three dates three days in a row?”  Jake questioned his eyes never leaving the screen.  “That’s intense even for you.”

“Well some of us like spending time with our girlfriends and not avoiding them for dumb reasons.”  Ryder let out a victory whoop before throwing the controller in the air as he jumped up, his arms up in a V.  “Smoked you.  I rule. You suck.”

“Don’t even talk to me about sucking when you’re dancing like that” Jake pointed to the shimmy Ryder was currently doing. Andrea smiled from her spot in the doorway to the kitchen.  Ryder was a sweet boy and she was very happy he was Jake’s best friend.

“Jealous I’m going to show Tina my sweet moves and steal her away?” Ryder teased.  “There was always a little something when we were paired together in glee.”

“There was more heat between Kitty and Blaine. “

“Keep ignoring Tina and we’ll see how much heat there is.” Ryder started patting his pockets, trying to find his keys.

“Does Unique realize you’re already planning to ditch her?  Cause I don’t mind having a talk with her.”

“Unique and I have an understanding.  And a list.” Ryder fished his keys out of his pockets with a triumphant smile.  “And now that I’ve kicked your ass I’m going to go meet my girl.  You should think about calling yours.”

“You finally get a relationship and you think you’re an expert.” Jake rolled his eyes, kicking Ryder’s ankle.  

“One of us is talking to his girlfriend.” Ryder pointed out.  “Bye Ms. Clark!”

“Bye Ryder.”  Andrea waved as Ryder raced out of the door, just barely not slamming it behind him.  She sat down in her favorite chair, kicking Jake’s foot as she did.  “Why are you not talking to Tina?”

“Don’t listen to Ryder Mom. He’s an idiot.”

“Not that I routinely think you hide things from me but your recent track record where Tina is concerned makes me think differently.  Not to mention Bree.”

Jake actually sat up straight at the mention of Bree’s  name and shot her a concerned look.  There was her horrible liar of a son.  “Bree?  What about Bree? How do you know Bree?”

“I met her today while I was talking to Tina at the mall.” She smiled as Jake winced.  “Yes I talked with Tina.  And to be fair I don’t think Bree knew I was your mother because I assume she wouldn’t have said you were a hit it and quit it kind of guy if she did. And I know I taught you better than that.”

“Mom….”

“Jacob I have lived by the philosophy that it was better to assume you were making smart choices when it came to your dating life but this summer is giving me the impression that I made a mistake with that choice.  Because I know I was not aiming to raise a son that uses girls for his own needs and then moves on immediately after.”

“You can save the just like my father talk because I’ve already heard that one.” Jake stood up and started to walk towards his room.  “You’d be thrilled with the talk your new friend Bree had with me about that subject.”

“Stop.”  Andrea stood up and went in front of her son, electing to not mention his eye rolling.  “Sit.”  She pointed to the couch.

As Jake sat down, she remained standing in front of the coffee table.  “Now I realize that the past few years haven't been the best and I haven’t been home as often as I should.  And I know you are a teenager and you want your own life. But I do not want to be the kind of mother who finds out details of her son’s life while she is picking up socks in the mall.  I don’t want all the details but a h _ey mom I saw someone between Marley and Tina_ would be nice. Do I make myself clear?”

Seeing him nod, Andrea took a breath. “And as for this just like your father shit.  You can never be just like him because you are _my_ son, not his.  And my son is going to do things he never dreamed of.  You get me?”

****  
  


“Yes ma’am”  He ducked his head but not before she caught sight of the small smile on his face.

“And I know that my track record with relationships isn’t all that confidence inspiring but I do think Ryder’s right. You should talk to Tina.”

“Mom.”

She held up her hands. “Hey. You were a miserable horrible teenage beast at the start of the summer.  I was seriously considering putting you up for adoption. But you’ve been happier since you’ve been with her.  Or at least since I’ve known you’ve been with her.  And that counts for a lot in my book. I like my son happy. Sue me.”

“You don’t own anything worth suing over.” Jake pointed out as the doorbell rang.

“Just for that you’re getting the door and making dinner smart ass.”

“You say that like you weren’t going to make me do that anyway.” Jake stuck his tongue out at her as he went to the door.  His face fell into confusion as he opened the door. “Mrs. Puckerman?”

“Jake.”  

Andrea hadn’t heard that voice since that horribly awkward Christmas dinner.  While she and Rebecca Puckerman had no problem with their sons being friends, it was obvious that was never going to happen for the two of them.  What on Earth had happened to bring Rebecca to their doorstep?  Unless….. She went to stand next to her son.

Jake seemed to have a similar train of thought as she did. “Puck? Is he….is he….”

“Oh. No. He’s fine.” Jake let out a sigh of relief.  “He’s a little too excited about the idea of his military ID being able to buy him alcohol overseas but he’s fine.” Rebecca turned to look over Jake’s shoulder where she stood.  “I actually came to speak with you.  About a certain epic ass we have in common.”

Jake looked between the two women. “Is this where I suddenly remember I have plans with Artie? Or that Sam’s in town?”

“Which one will take longer?” Andrea asked.

“Oh hey! Sam’s in town.  I’ll be at Matt’s.”

“Have fun sweetheart. And call before you decide to spend the night.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_**So I have a hypothetical question to ask you.** _

Looking at her phone, Marley smiled as she pulled up her knees up under her chin.  She and Matt had been texting for the better part of the last hour.  Sam was having dinner at the Hummel house leaving both of them with no plans.  They had talked about final plans for Kitty’s party and she had assumed once that topic exhausted itself, the conversation would end. But so far it hadn’t.

_I may hypothetically answer you. ;)_

_**If you had been dating a guy who acted like an idiot and needed to apologize, hypothetically what song would help?** _

Picking up a pillow from behind her, Marley buried her face in it and squealed, kicking her feet on her bed.  She had been wondering how to bring up their fight and current state of being broken up and Matt had opened up the perfect opportunity.

Grabbing her phone, she quickly typed up a response.

_Well if it were me, a song wouldn’t be necessary since it’s possible the girl in question acted like an idiot too._

She held her breath as she waited for Matt to respond.  She missed him.  And right now there wasn’t anyone else she wanted to be talking to more than him.  Her text alert went off and she bit her lip from smiling even wider as she read.

_**So you’re saying breakfast at the Lima Bean tomorrow would work better?** _

_I’m saying meet me at 9 and don’t be late._

_**I’ll be the one with donuts.** _

 


	61. Chapter 60

“Look all I’m saying is that you can’t be this whipped this early in a relationship.”  Artie argued as he maneuvered his car on the screen into position.  “And if you are you should hide it better.”

“Matt if you listen to him, you’re an idiot.” Sam declared as he walked into Artie’s room. He threw himself onto Artie’s bed, grabbing a pair of socks and throwing it towards the ceiling.  

“How’s the Hummels?”  Artie asked, his eyes never leaving the screen.

“Good.” Sam threw the sock at Artie’s head, ignoring his yelp of protest.  “Never listen to a man that’s been terrified of his every girlfriend.”

“A- I have not been terrified of them.” Artie protestested.  “And B - I dated Tina.  She has issues.”

“I am not whipped.” Matt argued, pressing the buttons on his controller with more force than was probably necessary.  He hated losing in general but on Mario Kart particular.  “You’re just mad that I’m not doing your dumb serenade plan.”

“It is not dumb!  It is time proven effective.  There is evidence!”

“All your evidence proves is the choir room is, was and always shall be deeply dysfunctional” Matt pumped his fist as he finally moved past Artie’s character. “Yes! Eat my dust!”

“That’s the first time you passed me all night.” Artie scoffed.  “You’ll be sucking my tailpipe in no time.”

“That sounded like a pick up line in a bad porno.” Sam pointed out.  “Another reason why we should never listen to you.”

“Oh like there is such a thing as bad porno.”  Artie rolled his eyes.  

“Dude you have no idea.” Sam shook his head. “The things I have seen….”

“Does Mercedes know about your addiction to porn?” Artie wondered.

“Does Kitty know about yours?”

“Why am I hanging out with you two again?” Matt wondered. “I have a girlfriend.”

“Because until an hour ago you didn’t know you have a girlfriend?” Artie shrugged before letting out a victory whoop.  “Eat tail!”

“You and Marley made up?” Sam propped himself up on one elbow, turning to his side.  “Did you do the _Say Anything_ like I told you? Even Miss Pillsbury...I mean Mrs. Schue couldn’t resist that.”

“Uh no. I didn’t want to be arrested for being a stalker. I just texted her and we’re meeting for breakfast tomorrow.”

Artie turned his head just enough to catch Sam’s eye.  “Have you ever heard something so lame?  Where’s the romantic flare in that? And that’s why if we are being technical he still doesn’t know if he has a girlfriend.  If he had listened to me, he’d know.”

Sam shook his head. “I can’t believe you would call yourself a member of New Directions with a plan like that.  Did we teach you nothing?”

“Yeah. What not to do.” Matt pointed out, taking advantage of Artie’s distracted state to take the lead.  “I need a flowchart to follow that mess.  I swear in two years if everyone is still only dating each other I’m disappearing again and I’ll never come back.”

“Yeah like Tina’s going to let that happen again.” Artie snorted.  “Dream on.”

“Please. She’ll be too consumed with trying to keep your asses straight in New York.”

“He’s got a point.” Sam nodded.  “Which is why we need to convince Jake and her to make up and then convince Jake to come to New York.  Perfect distraction for her.”

“I’m sure Jake will appreciate hearing he’s a distraction.” Artie leaned down and picked up a Koosh ball tossing it at Sam’s head.  

“When it comes to his happiness and keeping Tina from crying all the time and sticking her nose in everyone’s business? I’m going with keeping Tina happy.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~**~

_**FYI once Blaine’s mom gets some alcohol in her? The mystery of how the same people produced Blaine and Cooper is solved.** _

Tina giggled as she read Kurt’s latest text message.  The anniversary party for Blaine’s grandparents was also doubling as getting to know Blaine’s fiance party and it was driving Kurt insane.  It seemed Blaine was the least physically demonstrative person in his family.  From his texts, Tina knew he had been hugged, had his cheeks pinched and slapped on the shoulder enough for eight lifetimes. He had taken to live texting her under the pretense of arranging their already decided travel plans for the next morning as an excuse to get away from third cousins he was already plotting to cross off the wedding invitation list.

_I’m going to need video Hummel._  

_**Don’t worry. The professional is front and center getting it all.  Now back to your issue.  You really tried to fill out another boyfriend’s college applications for him?** _

_I didn’t fill them out.  I just asked questions. And talked to the admissions officer.  A few times._

_**Tina I’ve seen your Facebook. You and the admission officer are now friends.** _

_She’s really nice and we have a lot of things in common._

_**She’s 45 with a Super Cuts perm who lives in Hoboken.  The only thing you have in common is a need to see Jake Puckerman move to New York.** _

Tina shook her head as she weaved through the people on the sidewalk as she headed for the Lima Bean.   Did everyone she know have to sound like a broken record?

_He wouldn’t have had the brochure if he wasn’t interested.  I was just removing some obstacles for him.  And you’re one to talk Mr. My Fiance Helped Push Me to Go to New York._

_**1 - He was just telling me something I already knew. 2- He didn’t push me.  3- OMG I THINK BLAINE’S MOM JUST FLASHED ME.** _

_Shut up!  Tell me that’s on video._

_**I’m scarred for life. I’m supposed to marry Blaine.  I don’t think  I can do that if I’ve seen his mother’s boobs.  It’s in the Constitution I’m sure.** _

Tina was about to text a response when a familiar seldom seen number flashed on her screen. Trying to not slam into anyone, she slowed down as she answered the phone. “Quinn?”

“Tina. How are you?”  Quinn’s honey-tinged voice floated to Tina’s ears.  She knew this tone. This was the tone Quinn used when she was trying to get something and didn’t want to seem like that was the sole purpose of the conversation.

“I’m fine.” Tina said slowly.  “What’s going on Quinn?”

“Nothing. I just realized that it’s been ages since we’ve talked.  I heard from Mercedes you have a new boyfriend. That’s exciting.”

“You’ve….never cared who I dated.”

“That’s not true. I was devastated for you when I found out you and Mike broke up.  It was a shame. And I’m just glad you found happiness again.  I want that for all my friends.”

“Quinn the last time I saw you acting like this you were trying to get Kurt to give Rachel a makeover. What’s going on?”

A soft sigh came across the line. “I told Puck he should have just called you himself.”

“Puck?”

“Yes. Jake called him and left this strange message about their moms and now Puck can’t get Jake to answer his phone so he wanted me to call you because he figured Jake may have told you and that you would have told me because of chick talk or something.”

“Chick talk?”

Quinn laughed. “I may love him but I don’t deny he’s still got some work to do.  I told him to just wait till Jake or his mom called him back but you know Puck. He worries and once he starts...he doesn’t stop.”

“Yeah.” Tina sighed as she came to a stop outside of the doors to the Lima Bean. “I’m sorry. I haven’t talked to Jake recently. I don’t….”

Her voice trailed off as she spotted Jake inside the coffee shop.  He sat at their favorite table looking worriedly into his mug.  His phone was on the table next to him so Tina was willing to bet Puck’s inability to get an answer was due to a dead battery.  He looked lost and she felt herself ache to go and hug him.  

Maybe this was the excuse she has been looking for to end this stalemate between them.  He looked like he needed someone and she desperately wanted that someone to be her.

“Tina? Tina? Are you there?”

“Quinn, I just found Jake.  Tell Puck I’ll email him later.”

“Call me if you think he’s going to need me.”

“I will. Bye Quinn.”

Hanging up her phone, Tina pushed her hair out of her eyes and took a deep breath. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed open the door to the Lima Bean.  Bypassing the counter she went right to Jake’s table.  He didn’t look up at her approach so she coughed to get his attention.

“Hi.” She said softly when he looked up.  “Can we talk?”

****  
  



	62. Chapter 61

“We don’t have to go here.” Unique paused at the doorway of Breadstix.  Glancing through the windows that lined the front of the restaurant as they walked up, she had spotted Bree sitting with a group of people she vaguely recognized as other Cheerios and football players. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle their less than creative insults and dirty looks.  She totally could.  She would just prefer not to have to deal with it while on a date.  Or have to watch Ryder slip right back into his confusing friends mode in front of them to save his own face.  

Their first few dates had been wonderful but they had also managed to avoid their classmates. Not that she hadn’t noticed them getting their fair share of looks.  She had.  But the disapproval of adults who didn’t know her was one thing.  Looks she could handle.  And for the most part those who had given them looks had kept their whispering and comments to where she couldn’t hear them.  

But Bree was different.  Bree knew them.  And Bree….Bree wouldn’t be quiet.  

“But you love the chicken marsala here.” Ryder said, confusion on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.  “And it’s close to where we’re going to the movies.”

“Well it is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.”

“Yeah but you usually don’t. Well except about me but you don’t change your mind.”

Unique felt her nerves lessen a little at his statement.  “I didn’t change my mind about you. I just convinced myself I had.  There’s a difference.”

Ryder grinned and took her hand.  “Look if you really changed your mind we can go. It’s just we were just talking about this in the car and….”

“Oh look. It’s Black Bruce Jenner and her boyfriend Short Bus.”  

Turning to face the door, Unique found herself face to face with Bree’s patented Sue Sylvester approved show smile.  “Oh look.  The gum I scraped off the bottom of my shoe.”

Bree slid closer to Ryder, running her finger up his chest.  “I know you may think your options are limited being a loser in glee club, but let me assure you, you could get a real woman if you wanted.  Granted one without many standards but still a real woman.”

Grimacing, Ryder took his hand and placed it on top of Bree’s before removing her hand from his chest.  “Yeah I think I’m doing ok on my own thanks.”  He took a step closer to Unique and took her hand in his.  Looking down at their joined hands, Unique couldn’t help but smile.

“Dude come on.” One of the football players stepped closer to Bree.  “You aren’t really dating…..him? What you’re gay now or something?”

“Uh no. I’m still into girls.  Which she is.  And she’s a better class of girl than the ones you’re hanging with Peterson.” Ryder took a step towards the Breadstix door, not letting go of Unique’s hand.  “I believe we have a date to start.”

He held open the door for her to walk through.  Unique couldn’t resist turning and waving with her free hand.  “Bye.  Maybe we can all double sometimes.”

The door swinging shut behind them kept Unique from hearing what Bree said in return.  Taking a breath, she looked at Ryder.  “Thank you.”

“Is that why you wanted to leave?” Ryder tilted his head in the direction they had just come from.  “Did you see them through the window?”

“Yes.” She admitted.  “You know that’s just the start right?  Not everyone is going to be like our friends.  Some people are probably going to be worse than that. If you want to bail now I would understand.”

“Woah. Woah. Wait.  Since when am I a guy who bails?” Ryder asked.

Unique shot him her best unimpressed look.  “Oh so the freeze out after Katie was…”

“Ok that was not my finest moment.  But I learned from that.We learned from that. And we moved on.  And yeah some people are jerks but what else is new at McKinley?  You at least only have one more year there.”

“Ryder”

He took a step towards, taking her other hand in his so he was holding both her hands.  “Look. I like you and it took me long enough to realize that.  And I’m not going to let some idiots who need to grow up keep me from spending time with you ok?”

If someone had told her at the start of this summer, this was where she was going to end up, Unique would have told them to lay off the Lifetime movies.  She had figured that she was probably going to have to wait until at least college before she found someone who didn’t care about the whispers that were sure to follow them around.  And here in the middle of nowhere Ohio she had.  She smiled at Ryder and squeezed his hands. “Ok.  Now lets eat because I am not about to miss the previews again.”

“That was one time. And you know that was Artie’s fault.”

“Ryder Lynn you of all people know how I feel about excuses and blatant lies.Just for that I think we’re going to have to get the large popcorn at the show.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He probably should be surprised she had found him,but he really wasn’t.  Jake looked up to where Tina was standing next to his table, determination written on her face.  “And if I said I didn’t want to talk, you’d ignore me right?”

Tina considered it for a second.  “I’d probably chase you down the street but I would stand outside your window all night or anything. At least not yet.”

“You know a normal girlfriend tries to not sound like a stalker.”

Tina scoffed before sitting down next to him. “Like you ever thought I was a normal girlfriend.” She reached over and grabbed his phone. “Do me a favor. If you’re going to leave Puck cryptic messages, then make sure your phone isn’t dead so he doesn’t call all of Ohio trying to find you.”

“What?” Jake grabbed his phone and groaned when he pushed the home button and nothing happened.  “Great.  How many people has he called?”

“Quinn as far as I know.  And she called me.” Tina shrugged. “Just...call him.”

He smirked as she tried to pretend she wasn’t interested.  “And you’re not going to ask me one question why I called him?”

“He’s your brother. It’s your business.” Tina shrugged and tried to look disinterested.  He let out a small laugh at her expression.

“It’s driving you crazy isn’t it?”

“Fine. Yes. A little.” Tina threw up her hands.  “But I’ve been told I have a habit of sticking my nose in where people don’t want it and I’m trying to turn over a new leaf.”

“Tina….”

She held up her hand. “No let me finish.  I overstepped and even though every other time I’ve done something out of the goodness of my own heart for someone I care about it’s turned out even better than they thought I still should have talked with you first before planning out your future because I think you’re really talented and I want you in New York for selfish reasons.”

Jake was pretty sure she hadn’t take a breath until she got to the end of her statement.  He picked at the corner of a  napkin before smiling at her. “Selfish reasons?”

She smacked his hand.  “We need to talk first.  Which by the way we’re horrible at.”

“We are way better at distraction.” Jake agreed.  “Look I know you were just being you.  It’s just college is…...not a good subject for me.  I don’t want my mom working three jobs she hates to put me through school.”

Tina winced. “And I was getting information for an expensive arts school in an expensive city.  Good move Tina.”

“Yeah well you wouldn’t be the first person to think I could get something I can’t.”  He shrugged his shoulders.

“Hey!” Tina protested, grabbing his hand into hers.  “Listen here. I don’t use my considerable talents as a meddler for just anyone.  Only those who I think deserve it.  And I do not waste my time on people who aren’t worth it.  You get me?”

There was determination and passion mixed in her eyes and it was all focused on him.  Jake felt the familiar pull of attraction flare between them.  He knew they needed to talk more but damn he wanted to reach across the table and kiss her.  And then find some place private and do more.  “You want to finish this discussion somewhere more private?”

“God yes.” Tina breathed before pulling him to her, crushing their lips together.  He just started to deepen the kiss when she pulled back, resting her forehead against his.  “But I think we need to finish it here first.  Because we need to talk more about this first and the only private place here is the unisex bathroom and that’s just gross. Not even for you will I consider that.”

“And what things have you considered for me?”

“Oh so much.”

 


	63. Chapter 62

Biting the pad of her thumb, Marley rested her elbows on the small table she had snagged from the Saturday morning crowd in The Lima Bean. Her eyes darted towards the door, hoping to catch sight of Matt the second he walk in. They had enough problems to worry about without not being able to find each other in an overcrowded coffee house being added into the mix.  

She wished she had stopped at the counter and gotten a cup of coffee so at least she would have something to hold in her hands while she waited.  But the table had opened up almost as soon as she walked in so she grabbed it.  Now she had to sit here, looking at the door and trying to pretend she didn’t see the nasty looks people were sending her way for taking up valuable real estate for seemingly no reason at all.

She felt a little silly, feeling as nervous as she did. After all meeting had been Matt’s idea.  He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would actually stand her up.  Even if she probably did deserve it.  But still she couldn’t deny that butterflies had taken up permanent residence in her stomach and would probably stay there until she and Matt walked out of this place together.  

If of course that was what he wanted.  Which she was pretty sure he did, but he was such a nice guy.  He probably had friendly post break up breakfasts with all his exes.  This was probably just the sort of thing he did.  Marley wasn’t entirely sure how Kitty knew what she was thinking or even if she was up yet, but she could feel the strength of her friend’s eye roll from here.  

The sound of the chimes ringing caused her eyes to flash over to the door just in time to see Matt walk in.  She raised her hand in greeting and he caught her eye, smiling immediately. He gestured towards the counter and she nodded her understanding that he was going to pick up their orders. The butterflies weren’t entirely dead but they sure had settled down at the sight of his smile. She was still pretty sure she wasn’t going to be able to eat anything without throwing up. And wasn’t that a conversation the two of them hadn’t had yet and boy was she not looking forward to that one at all.

Marley shook her head.  Even Tina would say she was getting ahead of herself. One thing at a time.  She smiled as Matt weaved his way through family and college students to where she was sitting.  He put down a tray with two coffees and one of the giant blueberry muffin that always sat behind the counter.  “All the times we’ve met here at breakfast and I just realized I’ve never seen you eat anything. Help me with this?”  He asked gesturing to the muffin as he sat down.

She grabbed the coffee with her name on the sleeve from the tray and nodded.  Grabbing a small piece of the muffin she popped it in her mouth, tapping her fingers nervously against the cup.  “I’m glad you wanted to do this.”

“Same here.”  Matt took a long sip of coffee before continuing.  “Look I need you to know that I’m sorry for acting like a jealous idiot.  I know you and Jake are friends and I know he’s happy with Tina. I guess I just thought he was just a little too much like his brother which isn’t fair to him. Or to you.”

Marley tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “I’m sorry for flying off the handle and jumping to breaking up.  I didn’t want to do that but the longer we went without talking the more I thought you wanted to and I just decided to beat you to it.”  She paused tilting her head.  “Also I probably listened to Tina more than I should have.”

Matt nodded. “Artie.” he admitted.  “Our friends are morons.”

She started to laugh, hiding her face behind her hands.  Looking up she caught Matt laughing as well. “I know they meant well but we really need to never listen to them.”

“Agreed.” Matt held his cup for a toast that Marley happily joined him in.  “And in the spirit of not listening to them, instead of Artie’s plan to serenade you at the party tonight what do you say about going together and maybe singing a duet?”

“I’d like that.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Wake up Katherine.  It’s your birthday!”  

Her moms’ voice chirped happily in her ear.  Kitty tried not to groan at how annoyingly chipper her mom was in the morning on a normal day. On her birthday it was magnified by twenty.  She cracked open one eye without trying to untangle herself from the blanket burrito she had wrapped herself in overnight.  Her mom smiled brightly at her, holding a small wrapped present.  

Kitty struggled to sit up, smiling good morning to her mom.  “But we don’t do presents till after dinner….”

“This one isn’t from your father or me.” Her mom kissed the top of her head as she gave her the gift. “Your father found it on the porch when he went to get the paper.  I think it might be from that boyfriend of yours.”

Kitty nodded as she found a small tag with her name written on it in Artie’s familiar chicken scratch.  “He must have come by before leaving to see his grandparents.”  

“Well come down for breakfast when you’re ready and there will be birthday pancakes on the table for you.”

“Thanks mom.”  Kitty called out distractedly as she began to tear open the paper as her mom closed the door behind her.  Once she had torn all the paper off, she puzzled over the plain clear DVD case with the words Play Me scrawled in black marker across the front.  Grabbing her laptop, she inserted the DVD in the drive and pushed play.

Artie’s face came onscreen, the background telling her he filmed this at least in his bedroom.  After adjusting something on the camera, he cleared his throat. “Happy birthday Kitty! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there like we planned but I figured this might somewhat make up for it.  You’ll be the first to tell me that I put my foot in my mouth more often than not. So to speak.  And I know that you don’t want to talk about the whole going to schools in separate states thing because you don’t want it to get out that you actually have a heart but I hate to break it to you. I know you have a heart. And I love that heart.  So for your birthday I thought I would make this video so you would know exactly how much you are loved.  Because sometimes I think we don’t realize you need to hear it.  So here’s everyone that you are currently pretending to hate for not being able to make it to your birthday, telling you how much they love you.”

The camera faded to black and then she saw Sam and Blaine sitting on their couch in New York.  “Kitty” Blaine started “I hope you have a happy birthday. My day doesn’t feel complete without you teasing me.  And I don’t care who I have to partner with in dance class, you’re still going to be best dance partner I could ever have.”

“You know you are the only person Blonde Chameleon trusts to keep everyone on task next year.” Sam said seriously.  “Femme Fatale you keep everyone in line and you keep everyone safe.”

Ryder waved goofily at the camera.  “Kitty I know we always said thanks wasn’t necessary but thanks. You know for what.  And I don’t care what you say, you’re stuck with me.  Forever.”

Marley and Unique blew kisses at the camera.  “There is no one else we would want to rule this sad God forsaken school with next year.” Unique smiled.  “Plus with our combined fashion sense?  Girl next year is going to be the best looking year ever.  And that bottle of Nair you keep in your locker? Just know if anyone tries anything with you?  I know your locker combination and I won’t hesitate to use it.”

“I’m sure you haven’t looked yet because you’re pretending to be mad at us, but when you open your birthday card from me, you’ll find a song that I wrote for you.” Marley smiled.  “It’s not exactly Marilyn Manson but it’s as close as I could do.”

Jake looked awkwardly off camera, running his hand over his head before he spoke.  “This is going to sound weird but I’m glad we broke up. Because now we’re friends and it’s way better than when we were dating.”

Tina waved her finger towards the camera.  “If you think you’re getting rid of me Kitty Wilde you’re crazy.  Those of us who survived dating Artie Abrams ( _HEY!_ Artie protested off camera) need to stick together.  And besides I  need you next year. No one else will tell me I’m being overdramatic and to stop crying.  You kick me in the ass when I need it and lets be real I’m going to need it a lot.”

The camera once again returned to Artie in his room.  “We tried not to be sappy because we all know how much you hate that. But we did want you to have something so you know that we all love you. And me most of all.  I may not know what the future is going to hold but I already know that no girl is ever going to match up to you.”


	64. Chapter 63

“Ok so you’re sure we’ve got everything?”  Artie asked for what Sam would swear was the millionth time in the last hour.  He rolled his eyes before letting out a sigh.

“You have your camera.  Jake and Tina are on the way to pick up Blaine and Kurt.  Unique and Ryder are talking to the manager to make sure everything is set up for the big reveal.  Matt sent Blaine the song but come on it’s Blaine you know he’ll have that down better than any of us.  He’s like a Jedi warrior with stuff like that.  And Marley is all set to pick up Kitty and get her there on time.”

“Plus Kurt is totally fine with filming Kitty’s reaction on his phone and sending you the footage.” Matt added.  “And Ryder is going to have the tripod set up to get the performance so you can edit it all together later.”

“I still don’t get why you want to film everything. I mean we’re going to rock this number and all but it’s just karaoke.” Sam shrugged as he arranged the stack of birthday presents for Kitty into manageable piles to take out to the car later.  Unique was going to use her powers of persuasion to get the staff to keep them out of sight until after Kitty realized there was a party was going on but they were in charge of getting everything there.  Matt and Artie were working on sorting out the decorations and party hats.  

Artie shot him a confused look. “Have you been in New York too long?  You’re like the sensitive one.  You should be all about me filming the actual last performances of New Directions for history.”

“It’s not the _last_ performance” Sam protested.  

“Yeah it is.” Artie argued back.  “Tina and I leave for New York in a few weeks. You and Blaine will be back after this weekend and you both won’t be back anytime soon.  There’s no glee club next year.  Unique graduates next year and then everyone else does.  We’ll still be friends but everyone’s not going to make it to everything.  Odds are someone is destined to become a Rory.”

“Who?” Matt asked puzzled.

“Exactly my point.” Artie nodded.  “This is one of the last time we’re all going to be together before Kurt and Blaine’s wedding which of course we’ll be the entertainment. Who better?”

“Not if I convince them to elope.”  Sam shook his head. “Just wait.  You’ll be with me in starting a fund to send them to Vegas and not let them come home until they get married by Elvis.”

“Pretty sure even if Kurt did elope there would still be a huge reception.” Matt pointed out with a shrug.  

“Exactly.” Artie held out his fist for a fist bump which Matt returned.  “I just want the last image the Ohio Show Choir blog community has of New Directions is of us killing it and not crying our eyes out through the eight millionth time we sang Journey.”

“I thought you told Blaine no one but him read the blogs.”  Sam looked the pile of presents and wondered if he could carry them all in one stack like Spiderman.

“You live with him and you don’t know rule number one is don’t let him think he’s right all the time or he’ll turn into a well dressed preppy dictator?”

“Haven’t you cast him as your lead in every project for the past two years and tried to get him to sign a contract to make his film debut in a picture you direct?”

“Blaine and I share an artistic understanding.  Which means he realizes when it comes to film I’m always right.  But there is no reason for him to think he’s right when it comes to everything else.” Artie shook his head.  “I thought I taught you better than that.  We have much work to do young Skywalker.”

“Help me Obi Wan. You’re my only hope.”

“How many times do I have to tell you. You can’t do your Luke impression with a Leia line.”

“Sure. _Blaine’s_ the dictator.” Sam said under his breath.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Almost two hours alone together.” Tina smiled and ran her hand down the line of Jake’s bicep.  “Whatever shall we do?”

“Not our usual unless you want a very awkward encounter with the cops.” Jake shrugged.  “I’d rather skip that Puckerman family milestone if you don’t mind. Also Blaine will kill us if we’re late”

Tina shook her head.  Only she would have a best friend who could manage to cockblock her from almost 100 miles away.  Her extensive research she completed last night on clean, safe rest stops on Highway 117 and Route 33 were all for nothing clearly.  “Just guessing a show tune sing along is out?”

“Good guess.”

“Looks like that just leaves talking.”

“Didn’t we do that last night?”

Tina arched her eyebrow at him.  “We talked for all of five minutes before we succumbed to our baser instincts. And not that I didn’t completely enjoy that, but we do need to talk.  At least about some things.”

Jake nodded his head in what Tina was taking as agreement.  She pushed her hair behind her ear and sat up a little straighter.  “So if not Juilliard what do you want?”

Jake let out a low whistle.  “Nothing about the weather? Just right to that?”

“Have you ever known me to pick the more tactful route?”

“True.” Jake acknowledged and then shrugged his shoulders.  “I just know I don’t want my mom to work at that country club forever.  Especially not to put me through school.  She shouldn’t have to work as she does now to pay for my lessons.”

“Can’t your dad….”

Jake snorted.  “My dad who asked Puck for money last year and the one time that I’ve seen him called me the wrong name?  Yeah he’s a great source of support.”

Tina winced.  “I keep putting my foot in my mouth.”

“Wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”

“I don’t mean to. You know that right?  I just say things before my brain has a second to think about it.”

“Kind of used to it.  And you’re cute when you get all embarrassed.”

“Hey if we aren’t going to use my extensive knowledge of good places to pull over then stop the cute flirting.  You always do that to get out of things.”

“I do not.”

“Oh you do too. I watched your brother do it for years but he was actually really bad at it.  You’re a little too good at it.  And you know it too. Don’t even try to play dumb about that one on me.  And in case no one has ever told you? Your dad is an asshole.”

“On that we agree.”

“Ok so we should only count on your dad to show up when you’re rich and famous.”

“We?”

“Look as long as we are….whatever we are?  It’s a we thing.  That’s just how I operate.  I clearly am going to be the biggest star the world has ever seen and I only associate myself with the best. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“All I’m saying is I’ve seen you dance.  I’ve never seen anyone dance the way you do.  And I think you’d be crazy to not do anything with that.  And ok money’s an issue but it’s not like insurmountable.  I know it’s not.”

“And how do you know that?  When you were filling out my application were you also filling out my financial aid application?”

“Ok I didn’t actually get as far as filing them out. But yes I did ask about scholarships.  I mean I think the biggest issue you have is without glee club next year there’s no big national competition you can perform in and invite recruiters too.  But there’s this whole social media angle I think you could rock.”

“You’re pretty relentless aren’t you?”  
  


“Can you tell me you don’t want it?  Cause I just don’t think you would have even looked at that brochure if you weren’t a little bit interested.  You wouldn’t have taken it. The Jake I know doesn’t do stuff just to be polite.”

Jake went quiet, chewing his bottom lip.  He slowly let out a smile as he shook his head.  “Ok tell  me what you found out. I’m not saying I’m interested but you aren’t going to stop till I at least hear you out.”

Tina leaned across the center of the car and kissed his cheek.  “I knew you would listen to reason.”

 


	65. Chapter 64

**You’re too in the open. You’re going to ruin the shot and the surprise.  Three steps back Hummel.  The lighting is better.**

Kurt looked up from his phone and tried to find Artie in the increasing crowd in the karaoke club.  He looked towards the stage, the direction Blaine and the rest of the guys had disappeared towards earlier and didn’t see anyone.  Kurt was going to assume Blaine was holding Ryder to his promise to keep Artie distracted away from his phone because if he got one more text from Artie he was going to burn every one of his sweater vests and then start on the Spielberg movie poster collection.

Still he took the three steps back because Artie would ruin the entire surprise part of this party by trying to make sure the shot was perfect.  

It was probably a mistake agreeing to film Kitty’s entrance to the party (and put up with Artie directing via text) but Kurt realized he was the only one to do it.  The guys had their number to do.  She would spot Unique and Tina pretty easily.  And even though no one said it, Kurt was pretty sure everyone was aware if Artie sent one text too many Tina wouldn’t hesitate to smash his camera over his head.  

It was kind of amazing to Kurt that it looked like the entire surprise part of this party was going to actually work.  There was no way if any of his friends had planned a party like this it would have been kept a secret.  Someone would have gotten pissed off at someone else and spilled it in a fit of screaming rage.  It would have been fantastic to watch but the whole surprise part would be ruined.  From what Tina had told him on the drive from Columbus, there had been at least two fights, a break up, two near breakups and all sorts of will they or won’t they drama during the planning and still Kitty was clueless she was about to walk into her birthday party.   At some point tonight he was going to corner Marley and find out exactly how she was able to pull this off.

He had to admit it was a little odd heading into a New Directions party without a side bet with Mercedes on who was going to cause a dramatic scene first.  But that just didn’t seem to be this group’s style.  It was a nice change of pace and Blaine and Sam certainly seemed to love it.  This group wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Certainly if Tina had anything to say about it, she was going to make sure every last one of them was going to end up in New York or close by.

His phone buzzed.  Assuming it was Artie, he scowled as he looked down at the message.  If he took another three steps he’d be sitting in a _Friday Night Lights_ reject’s lap.  But it wasn’t Artie this time. It was Tina.

_**They’re here!  It’s showtime!** _

Quickly Kurt turned the camera on and focused on the path Marley had been instructed to bring Kitty down.  If he missed a second of this, he knew Artie wasn’t above stopping the entire party and making them do a second take.  And that was not going to happen if he could help it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t care how much we are clearly going to kill our number, if no one is here no one is going to believe you sang Marilyn Manson with me.”  Kitty paused and looked to the ceiling. “I mean even without the habitual lying that’s a big suspension of disbelief.”

“Then we’ll get someone to tape it.” Marley looked around the room and led them past two perfectly empty tables only to drop her bag on top of a table almost in the dead center of the room.  “Here. This is perfect.”  

“Perfect for the Last Supper maybe.” Kitty said skeptically as Marley all but shoved her into a seat.  “There’s only two of us. Why do we need a table for 12?”

“Well I talked to Unique and she promised to try to get her and Ryder here before the end of the night.  And Matt may come by after that thing with his family is done.  And Tina and Jake have to come up for air at some point right?  They have to stop at some point right?”

“Oh you poor naive virgin.” Kitty patted the top of Marley’s head.  “I think Marilyn is a little too advanced for you.  Let’s stick to something simple.  Veggietales.  You can kill it on Veggietales.”

Marley gave an affronted face Sam would have been proud of. “Just for that, I’m going to show you up and stun you with my sick flow on Eminem.”  

Kitty collapsed into hysterical laughter.  “Wait. Let me get my phone. I need you to say that again and let me record it.  The next time I’m feeling down I’m going to play it and feel instantly better.”

Marley wagged her finger in Kitty’s direction.  “Keep it up and I’ll change your mind about your present.”

“You already gave me that song.  See that works better if you haven’t given me the present yet.”

“Who said that was your only present?”  Marley smiled and quickly turned towards the stage before Kitty could ask her what she meant by that.  The manager came out on the stage, looking like she hated her life a little less than usual.  

“Yes thank you for that not at all cliched version of _I Will Always Love You_.” she said to the retreating back of the girl that just finished the stage.  “I would have thought everyone was too sober for that just yet but hey I guess I was wrong.”  She looked down at the clipboard.  “Well at least this next act has the good sense not to pick a song that bores me.  Welcome to the stage Kitty Wilde Style”

Kitty’s eyes opened wide and she turned to Marley.  Marley smiled and pointed to the stage.  Looking over, Kitty stood up in shock as Artie, Matt, Ryder, Jake, Blaine and Sam all came out on stage in the outfits she remembered from the boy band battle Mr. Schue and Finn had.  “What….what…...why?”

“Oh here’s a first. Kitty’s speechless.” Kitty turned around at the sound of Tina’s teasing.  She blinked in confusion to find Tina and Unique standing there, Tina holding up a camera.  

“Wait...what are you all doing here?”

“Girl like we were actually going to miss your birthday.” Unique shook her head.  “I just hope Kurt got you jumping up like that.  Sue Sylvester would be proud of that move.”

“Kurt...Kurt’s here?”

“Over there.” Tina gestured off to the side where Kitty finally saw Kurt as he waved his hand in greeting.

“So if you’re wondering what the commotion over there is” Artie spoke into the microphone.  Marley pulled Kitty down as Tina and Unique found their seats.  Tina leaned over and whispered that Kurt would be over to join them after the song.  “It’s my girlfriend Kitty’s birthday today and this is her surprise party.”

A loud “awww” went through the club causing Kitty to hide her face behind her hands.  

Smiling broadly Artie continued.  “Given that reaction I think it’s safe to say we got her.  So I just wanted to say happy birthday woman. We all love you, but me the most.  And we picked this song just for you.”

Artie got back into the center of the group and nodded to the DJ.  

_Step by step_

_Ohh baby_

_Gonna get to you girl_

“Oh my God!” Kitty stood up again. Laughing Unique and Tina pulled her back into her seat.  “They’re doing New Kids???”

“Like we all forgot your lecture after the Backstreet Boys vs NSYNC debate Mr. Schue started.” Marley pointed out.  “We all remember who the real boy band kings are Kitty.”

Kitty shook her head.  “I just...I can’t believe you all did this for me.”

“Well believe it and take notes.” Unique said seriously.  “Because whatever we do for my birthday has to top this.”

 


	66. Chapter 65

“I can’t believe you all kept this a secret.” Kitty exclaimed as Blaine dropped the birthday tiara on top of her head.  She grabbed it off.  “And I don’t care how much you all surprised me. I’m not wearing this flashing neon monstrosity all night.  Jewels or nothing. It’s like you don’t even know me.”  

“I told you she wouldn’t wear this abomination of taste and style.” Unique took the offending crown out of Kitty’s hands and put it on Ryder’s head. “Here. Wear your shame.”

Ryder shrugged as Marley produced a smaller tiara from the pile of decorations and presents Sam and Matt had dragged from their hiding place in the back room.  Kitty smiled her thanks and put the new crown on her head.  “I should have known you picked that out.” she said in Ryder’s direction.

Ryder shrugged his shoulders.  “Hey I look awesome.  I call this a win.”

Shaking her head, Kitty turned to Unique. “We really need to discuss your taste in men.”

“She who dates Artie doesn’t get to throw stones.” Unique sang back, while Marley and Tina giggled into their hands.  Artie gave his best insulted look while Kurt and Sam nodded their agreement with Unique’s sentiment.

“I’m dumping him in a few weeks.” Kitty pointed out.  “Does that help?”

“Ok party rule!” Marley stood up and clapped her hands.  “I know the two of you are weird.” she started gesturing to Artie and Kitty.  “But no talk of break ups or moving.  We’re going to have to deal with goodbyes soon enough. This is a birthday party and we should only talk about happy things.”

“But if we outlaw talk of break ups then what are Kurt and I going to gossip about?” Tina asked.

“Why you spent so much time researching rest stops between here and Columbus.” Kitty said innocently before taking a long sip of her soda. Jake started to cough and Tina blushed.  “Don’t make me think you’re ditching me on my birthday and then leave your phone unattended.”

“Tina you tell me right now if you had me sitting in your sex seat.” Blaine said quickly.

“One, I’m not going to tell you that, and two laundry room.”  Tina shot back.

“Pretty sure I don’t want to know what laundry room means.” Matt remarked, draping his arm around Marley’s shoulders.

“Dude I wish I didn’t have visuals for what she means by that.” Sam shuddered.  “I can’t wait to move out.” His eyes shot up nervously. “Not that I don’t appreciate you guys letting me crash on your couch and all. I’m just sure you all want the place for your sex. I mean self.  For yourselves.”

“Well now we know how Blaine’s spending his summer vacation.” Kitty smiled as Blaine blushed and Kurt mouthed _your best friend_ in Blaine’s direction.  

“Why did you willingly rejoin this?” Kurt asked Matt.

“Nothing else like it.  And when you don’t have it you miss it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Come on bro. We’re up.” Ryder grabbed Jake’s hand and drug them away from the table.  Jake had been just fine sitting there and enjoying everyone else make a fool of themselves but apparently his so called best friend had other ideas.

“I think you confuse me with someone who actually sings at these things.”

“You sang earlier tonight.”

“Artie sang. I just harmonized softly.”

Ryder gave him a dubious look.  “Sure.  Listen I want to sing a song to Unique but I need another dude.”

“Then ask Blaine to do it. He’ll sing with you.”

“Because he’ll end up making those puppy dog eyes at Kurt and all the girls will get all gooey  and you know no one can compete with that. No one.”

“Yeah you’ve got a point.” Jake nodded as he noticed Ryder going immediately to the signup sheet and not looking through the selection book.  “And apparently you already have a song in mind.  Do I even know it?”

“Dude if you got through grade school without knowing this song I’ll be shocked.  I bet there’s video somewhere of you doing a dance recital to it.” Ryder grabbed the book, flipped through a few pages and pointed to the title with his eyebrow cocked.

Ryder wasn’t wrong about the recital video but Jake wasn’t about to admit that.  He knew his friends. There would be an all out search for that video and Artie would put it up on Youtube before he would even know they had it.  But that wasn’t the part that was giving him pause.  “Look I’m happy you finally figured out you’ve been dating Unique since like middle of the school year but are you sure you want to sing this song? It’s a wedding song.  I’m pretty sure I just heard Kurt and Blaine debate using it for their wedding.”

“She loves this group. Yes I want to sing it.”  Ryder shoved him in the shoulder.  “And your girlfriend likes them too.”

“My girlfriend is Tina. You want me to sing a wedding song to _Tina_.’

The applause erupting from the crowd startled them both. Ryder smiled and pulled him towards the stage.  “Too late to change your mind now!”

“And now singing _This I Promise You_ please welcome Ryder and Jake.  And oh what a shock they want to dedicate to their girlfriends.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I can’t believe you sang that song with that...thing on your head.” Unique gestured to the birthday tiara Ryder still wore when he and Jake returned after killing their song.  “Way to ruin a romantic moment.”

Ryder leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’re the one who told me to wear it. Remember?”

“I don’t recall such a tragic lapse in taste.”

“Hey.” Jake said quietly to Tina who looked like she was about to explode from happiness.  

“Do you know you just gave me the best graduation present ever?”

“I got you a card.”

“No not that.” Tina shook her head.  “I spent all those years in the choir room and no one ever sang a song for me.  I mean I know you guys did for prom and I loved it but not once did my boyfriend sing a song to me. In front of everyone.”

“Wait. Never? I thought you dated Artie? That’s like his go to move.”

“When we dated it was in the middle of your brother’s baby drama.” Tina pointed out. “No one was going to be heard over that.  But I always wanted that to happen to me. And it just did.  So thank you.”

She pulled him close and started a soft simple kiss.  Jake moved his hand to cup the back of her neck and deepened it.  Her lips fell open to accept his tongue when he could faintly hear someone coughing close by. Pulling apart they looked to find all of their friends looking at them in amusement.  

“Amendment to Marley’s lame rule!” Kitty held up her hand.  “Those two can’t sneak off to have sex.  They already defiled Ryder’s pool and probably most of the surfaces in Blaine’s house lets be real here.”

“Tina.” Blaine said in a warning tone.

“Blaine I told you we did not have sex in your house.  Unlike some people I could mention I respect other people’s homes.”

“Just not their pools”  Ryder muttered.

“All in favor of no possible baby drama coming from this night raise your hand” Kitty called out.  Jake rolled his eyes as everyone (but Tina) raised their hands. “Great!  Put that on ice until we leave.  Unless you want us all to watch and then I can’t promise Artie won’t film it.”

Artie opened his mouth to protest then cocked his head to one side. “No. That’s fair.”

“Awesome!” Kitty clapped her hands together. “Now that’s settled. Back to me and my party!”

 


	67. Chapter 66

“Is there a reason you’re making up really obvious excuses to follow me or have you actually turned into a girl since moving and now think you have to go to the bathroom with me?”  Kitty stopped and turned around, crossing her arms across her middle as she fixed her best not impressed glare on Blaine.  “Because I’m telling you right now no one has time to wait for your surely way too expansive grooming routine. At some point one does want to leave the bathroom.”

“I wasn’t that obvious was I?” Blaine asked nervously.

“You fail at being subtle so hard it’s amazing people think you’d make a good actor. Out with it.  Do you need me to break Artie’s camera?  I was planning on doing it anyways but I’ll be happy to use you as an excuse.  He’s incapable of being mad at you.”

“I just wanted to talk to you.”  

“And you had to stalk to the restroom to do this because? I promise Jake and Tina won’t actually have sex on the table and force you to watch nasty hetero porn.”

At the start of the year Blaine had figured out the best way to deal with Kitty was to ignore her attempts to provoke you and just tell her what you wanted to tell her.  It saved a lot of time and headaches.  “I wanted to make sure you’re ok. I’ve been worried about you.”

“I promise I was only kidding when I said I was researching uses of Napalm to use on people who were skipping out on my birthday.”  

“Not that.”  Blaine shook his head.  “Last month you got all quiet.  You didn’t make a joke about my hair once.  And everyone got all weird and I know somehow you were in the middle of it.  I knew you wouldn’t tell me over the phone so here I am. Are you ok?”

Kitty blinked at him. “You came back to Ohio just to ask me if I’m ok?”

“I came back for a lot of reasons but you were a deciding factor.  Are you ok?”  
  


Her eyes got suspiciously bright and Kitty ducked her head quickly.  “Kitty?” He asked with concern, reaching out to touch her arm.  She slapped it away, looking up at him her eyes blinking quickly and taking a deep breath.

“Contacts.” She said with a wave of her hand.  Blaine nodded pretending he wasn’t fully aware she didn’t wear contacts.

“I’m fine.” Kitty smiled at him. “Parts of this summer sucked worse than being in school but I’m fine.”

“You sure? Cause if you want to talk about it…”

“I’m positive.  But if I ever need to I know you’re always available for girly bonding time.” Kitty shook her head.  “And since we’re bonding here I have to ask you. Is the supposed hole in the ozone directly over your love shack in Brooklyn or did you and Kurt create a new one with the combined fumes of your hair products?”

Blaine stroked his chin. “I wonder if Marley wants to sing  _That’s What Friends Are For_  with me when we get back.”

“You wouldn’t. She’ll start crying before you finish the first verse.”

“And Tina will start at the title.” Blaine smiled, trying to keep his laughter from erupting.  “It’s a great song.”

“Oh I see your game Anderson.  I see it. Fine.  You want to turn my birthday party into a sob fest, go for it.  Watch me make your visit a living hell.”

“You’d never do that. You love me too much.”

“Who said that? I never said that!”

“You don’t have to say it Kitty. We have an unspoken connection.”

“That’s it. I’m breaking into wherever you’re staying and stealing all your gel.  And bow ties.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Guys!” Tina skidded into the table as she raced back to the table.  Jake had to reach out and grab her waist to keep her from crashing face first into Matt’s lap.  She smiled over at him before continuing.  “I have found the perfect song for us all to sing together!”  

“No Tina we aren’t going to help you sing  _I Wanna Sex You Up_ to Jake.” Kitty said evenly causing Kurt and Matt to laugh. “The limit is one creepy serenade a year and you used yours to declare your love for Blaine.”  

“It was a lovely performance” Blaine said loyally while Tina stuck her tongue out in Kitty’s direction.

“Thank you Blainey Days.  And what I meant was they have  _We Are a Family_. That’s totally us!”

“ANDERSON!”  Kitty roared.  “I know you did this!”

Blaine held up his hands as everyone looked puzzled between the two of them.  “Totally innocent.”

“Since when is singing  _Dreamgirls_  us?” Jake questioned.  

“You didn’t know  _Rent_.  How do you know  _Dreamgirls_?”  Marley wondered.

“Beyonce.” Jake said simply, getting a nod of agreement from Sam, Artie, Matt and Ryder.

Unique caught Kurt’s eye and shook her head. “Straight boys.”

“Ok no.” Kitty shook her head before pointing to both Marley and Tina. “You two would be crying before we would get to the first chorus.  Also that song is basically a solo and no.  I’m not singing back up at my birthday party.”

“I saw they have  _On Our Way_.” Marley offered. “We killed on that.”

“And we haven’t gotten through the entire Spice Girls catalogue yet.” Unique snapped her fingers.  “We still haven’t done  _Viva Forever_.”  

“Ohhh.” Sam said,his eyes lighting up. “I’ve been working on my Simon Cowell.  That song would be perfect for it.”

“You come near the Spice Girls with one your impressions Evans….” Kitty warned as Artie shook his head at Sam. He moved closer to Sam and grabbed his hand.  

“Come on. We’ll go sign us up and keep Kitty from killing you.”  

“Oh! Pick some Abba too!” Marley asked.  “Something from  _Mamma Mia_!”

Artie offered a mock salute.  “I know just the song!  Kurt make sure the camera is ready.  This is going to be a performance for the record books.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So did you have a good time?”  Marley asked from where she sat on the hood of Jake’s car next to Tina.  The guys were wrestling with getting all the supplies back into Artie’s car.  Kitty and Unique stood next to Marley and Tina, watching with amusement.

Kitty adjusted the tiara that still sat on her head. “It was alright I guess.”

“Sure.” Unique teased. “We’ll just pretend it was only Tina getting all teary during the Spice Girls.”

“When someone was dumb and let Ryder make a speech and he made that untrue comment that it was our last song together ever, Marley pinched me.  It was pain, not tears.”

“Oh yeah Marley pinches hard.” Tina said with a shaky laugh.  “But you are right. It’s totally not true.”

“What’s not true?” Sam wondered as the guys finally managed to get everything in the trunk and returned to where the girls were.  

“What Ryder said. That it was our last song together.” Marley said simply.  “It’s not true.”

“Exactly. I’m not Spice-phobic but we are way too bad ass to go out like that.” Artie clapped his hands.  “If we have a last song then we all know what song it’s going to be.”  He started clapping out a familiar beat on the arms of his chair.  A grin went through the group as the remembered a week being stuck in the dark.  

Matt pulled out his cell phone and began to film. He had a feeling the group would want this to be filmed.

_Buddy you’re a boy_

_Make a big noise_

_Playing in the street_

_Gonna be a big man someday_


	68. Chapter 67

_Ok my fellow show choir nerds…I’ve been hearing some rumors all summer and I wanted to just dismiss them because the team the rumors are about has been through enough this year you know? But now I found this video and I don’t know guys…I think the rumors are true.  I found **these**   **videos**  on Artie Abrams’s (New Directions) personal You Tube channel.  Look at the title folks.  The last performances of New Directions?  And those comments. Guys I recognize those names.  Rachel Berry is commenting on those videos about how terrible it is such wonderful talent won’t be showcased for the world.  Guys….I think New Directions has been disbanded._

_What the hell? How do you place second in the freaking nation the year your coach DIES and get disbanded?  Isn’t that like illegal?_

_Guys come on. New Directions skews to the dramatic side. (hello **kiss that missed**!)  For all we know it’s the last performance of that particular group since half of those people graduated.  I’m sure we’ll see them again once performance season starts._

_I don’t think they’re being dramatic this time.  I’ve got a cousin that goes to McKinley and she’s said all sorts of programs were cut at the end of the year for not winning.  I know we’ve all heard some crazy stories out of McKinley but this seems real._

_Has anyone messaged @bryanferryfreddiemercury?  I mean if anyone would tell us straight about this….._

_Oh Lord do I fear for @bryanferryfreddiemercury’s inbox. We might actually break him this time folks!  Go easy.  He’s always nice to us. (Even when he shouldn’t be. Remember all that stupid anon hate he got when we found the proposal video? Sheesh!)_

_Greetings show choir friends!_

_My thanks to @SunshineWarbler for texting me about this.  Hopefully this will save my inbox before it’s too late._

_Sadly the rumors are true. New Directions have been officially disbanded by McKinley’s new principal Sue Sylvester with the full support of the Allen County School Board.  What we learned after the fact was that Mr. Schue and Principal Sylvester made a deal when she was named principal that we (and to be fair other clubs as well) had to win Nationals in order to have funding for next school year.  Now I want to be clear that we didn’t know about this deal and I’m not blaming Mr. Schue for not telling us about it. We wouldn’t have changed anything about our Nationals performance deal or no deal.  We came in second and Principal Sylvester refused to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.  We found out the day we returned from Nationals.  Worst homecoming ever._

_The remaining members of New Directions aren’t sure what exactly they are going to do next year.  But they are determined to keep performing someway.  And as those videos found you found show, pretty sure every time we get together singing is going to happen. New Directions may be gone but we’re not going to let the feeling we had while we were apart of it die._

_Don’t stop believing!_

_Is anyone going to say it? I’m going to say it.  What a bunch of bullshit.  I mean we aren’t talking Aural Intensity with their kiss ass ways here.  (Would we cry about them? Well we’d wonder who we’d laugh at but cry? Not so much)  And I’ll admit I’m the first to roll my eyes when I hear New Directions are doing original songs cause trying too hard much?  But like I got to respect a team that won Nationals it’s third year in existence and then places second to freaking Throat Explosion after their coach dies in the middle of the year?  No. I’m sorry no.  We have to do something.  RIGHTEOUS INTERNET FURY ENGAGE!_

_Who’s going to care about an Ohio show choir? Nick and Drew Lachey? Woo. Star power. I mean I’m down to help but what can we do really?_

_I found the address of the Allen County School Board **here**.  Channel your best anon hater and go forth!_

_Relax folks! The Sing! fandom is here.  This shit is right up Bryan Collins alley.  And if we are one thing it is EXCELLENT at annoying our creators/crew/cast into watching things.  We on it!_

_Oh great there’s the plot for season 5. But I’m willing to risk it.  #SaveNewDirections is go. Won’t stop till it’s trending._

_Let’s make the videos viral!  Like We Will Rock You vid alone should go viral cause god damn sons and daughters._

_Oh hey!  This is why my vid count has shot up. I was wondering.  New Directions alumni are totally here to help. (We couldn’t think of what to do and Rachel constantly tweeting about it only goes so far.)  You want more videos? I got more videos.  Hit the inbox up._

_I don’t know why the Free Credit Report.Com/Savings guy is tweeting about this (or who would send it to him) (not that I’m following him or anything.) but hey you do you ridiculously handsome dude that’s too pretty to be real. You do you._

_Forget trending I’m not stopping till it gets to Ellen._

_Question.  Why is @bryanferryfreddiemercury yelling at the Free Credit Report guy on Twitter? I thought he was all about getting the word out?  (Further question- why am I now following the Free Credit guy on Twitter? The things I do for this community.)_

_GUYS!! ROCKY RHODES (Bryan Collin’s right hand woman at Sing!) just favorited my tweet with the link to the video! I MAY DIE!_

_Sing! fandom in with a hit!_

_Ok so in between tweeting and talking to everyone on every platform ever, I may have done some research. Guys the Free Credit Report dude’s name is Cooper Anderson. ANDERSON.  @bryanferryfreddiemercurty I think you got some explaining to do._

_RIDICULOUSLY ATTRACTIVE BROTHERS ALERT!_

_For the record @bryanferryfreddiemercury it wasn’t me._

_@NextSpeilberg I know it was you. And i’m enlisting your girlfriend to help with my revenge._

_@bryanferryfreddiemercury I SAID IT WASN’T ME. BLAINE STOP TEXTING KITTY RIGHT NOW!_


	69. Chapter 68

“Was there a masochist lesson of the week we missed out on when Mr. Schue started glee club?” Kitty asked, staring at Artie in disbelief.  “You and Blaine think getting random show choir bloggers are going to get Sue to change her mind?”   She looked over at the rest of her friends squeezed around two tables in the center of the Lima Bean.  “You do remember Sue right?  And since when are there show choir bloggers other than Blaine and those of us who were only humoring him?”

“Not only that, when did Blaine become like….the big name in show choir blogging?” Ryder asked looking up from his laptop.  “His follower count is insane.”

“Yes Ryder. Focus on the important things.” Kitty rolled her eyes.  

“Kitty’s right. It’s Sue.” Marley pointed out. “I doubt she knows what Twitter is, much less a trending topic.  Or You Tube.”

“Oh she knows You Tube.” Tina smirked.  “Just google Sue Sylvester and _Physical_.  You can thank Kurt later.”

“It’s not about getting Sue to change her mind.” Artie argued as Ryder and Jake hunched over the laptop, searching Tina’s suggestion.  “It’s about getting the attention of people above Sue. The school board.  Private sponsors other than Sugar’s dad.”

“Oh that explains so much.” Unique shook her head.

“And this didn’t occur to either of you, oh I don’t know, at the end of the school year when it might have done some good?” Kitty asked.  

“No. We were distracted.” Artie admitted sheepishly.  “But this is better. Summer. Slow news time.  We get the right people to see this?  New Directions could be the talk of the nation.”

“Are you delusional? No one cares about show choir? We are the nerds of the nerdom!”

“Ummmm….guys?” Matt said quietly his eyes glued to his phone.  “You may want to check Twitter.”

“Did Kim release another selfie? Cause I am not in the mood to deal with that today.” Unique asked.

“No.” Matt said slowly.  “Bryan Collins just sent out a link to Artie’s site.  With a note that this is the video he was talking about in his interview?”

“Bryan Collins knows who I am?” Artie asked as Tina leaned over and snatched the laptop out of Ryder’s hand. She ignored his yelp of protest as she logged into her Twitter profile and found the tweet on her timeline.  

“It’s already jumped to a thousand retweets” Tina said in awe.  “And TV Line just retweeted it from him.”

Artie’s phone started chiming with incoming email alerts.  He scrolled through his inbox quickly. “It’s comments on the video.”

“You get emails anytime someone comments on one of your videos?” Kitty asked.

“It’s important to seem available to my audience.” Artie explained.  

“The racist trolls attack yet?” Unique wondered.

“Not yet. I mean I’m sure they will and I’ll block them immediately but so far it’s largely positive.”

“The cast of _Sing_ must have been giving marching orders.” Tina’s eyes never left the computer screen.  “They are all tweeting about it now.”

“ I am judging you so much for following the entire cast.  You probably follow the piano player too.”

“How do you know he’s on Twitter if you don’t follow him?” Tina asked smirking in Kitty’s direction.  “And besides I know all about your crush on Devin.  No one has a crush on Devin.”

“And they say we get side tracked.” Jake whispered to Ryder.

Tina refreshed Artie’s You Tube page and then refreshed again just to make sure she was seeing the number accurately.  “Artie…...you’re stuck at 301.”

“301?”  Artie reached forward and grabbed the computer from Tina, ignoring Ryder’s protests.  “Really?”

“We’re getting excited about 300 views?” Kitty asked skeptically.

“No. When you get stuck at 301 that means there are so many hits You Tube is verify them to make sure it’s not like me coming to my page every few minutes. “ Artie looked up over the corner of the screen. “Not that I would ever do that.”

“Of course not.” Marley giggled.  “So 301 is a good thing?”

“It means we may be on our way to going viral.” Artie closed the laptop.  The accurate view count wouldn’t be updated for awhile.  And if anyone else got in on the campaign Tumblr would tell Blaine who would tell them.  “We’ll at least get some attention.”

“I for one am planning on using this exposure to launch myself into the superstardom I clearly am destined for.” Unique settled back in her chair, flipping her bangs.  Ryder winked at her and she wrinkled her nose.  “”When the press comes calling please address me as The Divine Miss Unique and don’t look at me in the eye.”

“I’m a part of your entourage right?” Marley asked.

“Of course.  Someone needs to screen out the skeevy looking groupies.”

“Hey!” Ryder and Matt protested at the same time while Marley giggled.

“I remain skeptical that this is going to work but I’ll indulge you if it means I have a shot at groupie leftovers.”   Kitty leaned into Artie’s shoulder shooting a grin in Unique’s direction.

“I’m glad to see you are all concentrating on the important things.” Jake joked.

“Look if it helps, I’m all for it. But Sue ran on an anti arts platform for Congress and nearly won.” Kitty reminded them.  “And it’s the Internet. Their attention will shift away before we get our next refills.”

“Then we just need to make sure we keep getting their attention.” Tina declared pulling out her phone.  “Artie you still have pull with the AV club?”

“I am their god.”

“Disturbing but we can use that.”  Tina scrolled through her contacts to find Blaine’s number.  “How quickly can you edit something together?”

“Depends on how many choices I have.  My artistic integrity can’t be compromised.”  Artie gave her a quizzical look.  “Why? What are you getting at?”

“We can see those wheels turning from space.” Matt teased.  “Share with the class.”

“Look the videos of us are great.  But New Directions is more than just us.  If we can pick a song and get everyone to record themselves singing it. And I mean everyone, not just those of us who graduated.  Joe, Sugar, Rory. And if Artie and the AV club can make it look awesome….”

“I see where you’re going with this.  I like it.  Keep the attention going.” Artie nodded.  “ I can get in touch with Sugar.  I would say Brittany knows how to find Rory but….”

 

“Wait.” Tina interrupted.  “Didn’t Kurt say he got an email from Rory after Finn died?”

“He did. Yeah call Kurt about that.”

“That leaves Joe.” Ryder leaned forward.  “I think I still have that email he sent me.”

“We went to same church. I can ask my pastor.” Kitty offered.

Artie clapped his hands. “Let’s go guys. Operation Save New Directions is in full effect.”


	70. Chapter 69

Jake winced as the front door hit the wall with a loud bang.  He had hoped to sneak in, grab his laptop and run back out before his mom even realized he was home.  Now he had to hope that maybe she was down the street talking to a neighbor or even out for some rare time with her friends. If she was home, she would want him to do something before he left.  It wasn’t that he was opposed to helping his mom out. It was more like he had left Ryder and Artie alone together and that was just a bad idea all around.  The last time that happened it had led to him dancing in a loincloth on the auditorium stage and swinging from vines he still wasn’t convinced were actually safe.  There was no way he going to let them have time to come up with something worse for this video project.

He’s not an idiot.  Loin cloths and the internet are a bad combination. But Artie and Ryder?  Well they’d probably think it the best idea ever.  And the girls would back them up.  

“Jake?  That you?”

“If I say I’m a burglar will you believe me?”

“Very funny.  I need to talk to you. Kitchen. Now.”

WIth a sigh Jake made a U Turn on the steps to his room and started towards the kitchen. He began to go through a list of costumes worse than loincloths because he was sure by the time this was done he was going to be wearing something ridiculous.  (And if they got Sam or Blaine to help?  Jake shuddered.  There would be loincloths _and_ puppets.)

His mom was drying the dishes when he came into the kitchen. The dishwasher must be broken again.  “You need me to fix that?” He guessed gesturing to the dishwasher.

“No. You getting electrocuted before you turn 18 I’m pretty sure is child endangerment.  Not happening.”  She nodded towards the table. “Sit.”

“For the record whatever it is you think I did, I wasn’t there.”

“Yes that’s not suspicious at all.”  His mom raised her eyebrow at him as she sat down across from at the table.  “I didn’t say it was anything bad, guilty conscious.”

“Mom?  I left Ryder and Artie alone brainstorming and they were about to call Sam and Blaine.  And that just always leads to trouble so what did you want to talk to me about?”

“It’s about your father.”

“Oh.” Jake shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Do we have to?”

“Unfortunately yes.”  His mom let out a sigh.  “Puck’s mom found out some information and she thought it was important for the both of us to know.”

“There’s another kid somewhere?”

“My first thought as well but no.  Have you seen the commercials for The Thigh Blaster?”

Confused Jake shot her a questioning look.  “That belt that that supposed to work your thighs electronically?  And looks like ace bandages?”

“I’m sure you’ll be proud to tell all your friends that your father is the ‘brains’ behind that invention.”  Jake didn’t know an air quote gesture could look even more sarcastic than it did normally but somehow his mom managed it.

“Tell me you’re kidding.”  

“I wish I was. But surprisingly he has found enough people to buy this thing and is actually making money.  For once.”

“He’s making money? The guy who asked Puck for a loan last year?”  

“He asked your brother for a loan?”  Andrea threw up her hands in exasperation.  “I  bet Rebecca doesn’t know about that.”

“Rebecca? Who’s Rebecca?”

“Puck’s mom. Mrs. Puckerman.”

“When did you two get on a first name basis?  What the hell happened the other night?”

“Hey! Language!”  She snapped her fingers.  “I’m not saying we’ve become best friends but we did decide that if we want to present a united front for the court, we needed to put some things behind us.”

“Court?”  Jake felt like he was becoming a parrot with the amount of repeating he was doing. “What about court?  Tell me you didn’t come up with that stupid idea and he stole it from you.”

“Even if it was true I’d never admit that.  No we’re going to sue him for back child support.  And since your father has a charming way of denying reality, Rebecca thought it would be a good idea if we worked together.”

“Don’t you need a lawyer for that? We don’t have money for a lawyer.”

“Well that’s the other reason Rebecca came by.  She ran into Mrs. Hummel at the store the other day and they got to talking about this.  Do you realize there are a lot of lawyers who are eager to help a Congressman out?”

Jake snorted.  He had only met Mr. Hummel a few times but he had heard stories.  And Mrs. Hummel could convince Blaine Freddie Mercury was overrated when she wanted to.  He was pretty sure the lawyer wasn’t eager so much as he or she didn’t know what hit them.  

“I wanted to talk to you because it’s not going to be pretty.  Your father will likely say things like he’s not your father.  So when this gets going I don’t want you at the courthouse.  Do you hear me?  Only if you are needed to testify. Otherwise stay away.  This is my fight and you are not going to fight it for me.”

“But if he says…”

“When he denies being your father, that’s when Rebecca and your brother are going to testify they knew you were his son.  The ex wife backing up the mistress’s version of events?  I think that might have an impact don’t you?”

“Can I be there on that day?  Cause I kinda want to see his face if that happens.”

“I’ll take a picture.” His mom reached across the table and rubbed his head.  “Look it may not work.  We may win the case and he just ducks out on paying. It really wouldn’t surprise me.  But it’s a chance to get money to put you through college and I’m going to take it.  So even when it gets bad, remember it will be worth it. Ok?”

Jake nodded slowly. “Ok” he smiled softly as the phone rang.  “Is there more or can I go?  Leaving Ryder and Artie alone too long isn’t good.”

“Back by curfew.”Andrea made a shooing motion with her hand.  “No getting Tina pregnant.” She added getting up to answer the phone.  

“I really am hanging out with Ryder and Artie.” He called out as he raced to the stairs.

He got to his room and found his laptop under a pile of dirty laundry.  Shooting a quick text to Ryder letting him know he was on his way, he barely hit the last step when his mom’s voice stopped him yet again.

“Jake?  Why is a producer for The Ellen Show calling for me?”


	71. chapter 71

“OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.”  Tina practically tripped over the back of Artie’s chair in her excitement as she burst through the front door of his house.  “This is like beyond anything that has ever happened to this club. Well anything good I mean.  Winning Nationals and all was great but this….this….I mean The Cheerios only managed like Fox Sports Ohio.  This is Ellen!”

“So you got the phone call too.” Artie remarked dryly as he pushed his glasses up his nose.  

“Why are you not freaking out? I am freaking out!  You should be freaking out!”

“Oh there was screaming.” Ryder said as he wandered in from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn, throwing a kernel in the air.  “And some crying but I’m not supposed to tell you about that.”

“That’s it. You’re back out of the Golden Globes speech. And the EGOT press release.”  Artie glared at Ryder.

“That’s cool. Unique already promised to mention me in hers.” Ryder shrugged unconcerned as he sat down on the couch.  “She texted while I was in the kitchen. The rest of the girls will be here soon.  Matt’s coming with them.”

“Good because our official television debut is going to require a massive shopping trip.” Tina nodded.

“Excuse you what do you think my masterpiece of a Christmas special was?”  Artie protested.

“Your attempt to slide as many dirty jokes as you could onto the airwaves on Christmas Eve?” Tina cocked her eyebrow up.  “Still mad at you about cutting my part to smithereens.  Even my parents didn’t know I was on.”

“My artistic vision can not be compromised.”

Jake walked in and unknowingly saved Artie from the fight Tina was gearing up to have.  “My mom was speechless. My mom. I don’t think she’s been speechless...ever.”   He shot a confused look at Ryder. “Why are you so chill. I was expecting to see you swinging from the ceiling or something.”

Ryder looked up at the ceiling fan in the middle of the room, studying it.  “It wouldn’t hold my weight. I’ve tried on that model before. It’s not pretty when the ceiling falls down on top of me.”

“I’m not going to ask about that.” Jake said quickly before sitting down on the couch and digging into the popcorn bowl.  

Unique and Kitty walked through the door, dragging Marley behind them. Matt stopped and knocked on the open door with a shrug.  Unique made a beeline for the chair Tina was perched on as she texted away. “I would have thought Blaine and Sam would be calling in for this shindig.” she remarked trying to see over Tina’s shoulder.  “Sam’s celebratory impressions don’t work out well over text.”

“No they are.” Tina waved her hand in dismissal.  “This is something else.”

“She’s gloating about Ellen to Santana.” Artie explained.  “She’s already called me to complain that I didn’t get her on the show because if any one should be on Ellen it should be Santana.”

“So we’re going to do it?”  Marley asked.  “I mean I’m totally excited and my mom is all for it but won’t it like make Principal Sylvester even madder?  She might be able to ignore Tumblr and Twitter but even she can’t ignore Ellen right?”

“Who said you can take over my role as the sane one in this group?” Kitty asked crossing her arms before turning to glare at Matt. “This is all your fault. I know it is.”

Matt held up his hands in surrender.  “Hey the wrath of Sue is something anyone would worry about.  But when she went viral when the club started she didn’t seem to mind.  I think she even thanked Kurt for stealing the video.”

“Weirdest day ever.” Artie shook his head with a low whistle.

“I’m going to have to talk to Blaine about his taste in men.  I don’t know if someone who willingly courts the wrath of Sue is someone he should be with.” Kitty said seriously.  “But still Mary Poppins has a point.  If we do this, Sue isn’t going to just ignore it.  I don’t even know the whole story about Katie Couric but I’ve seen the voodoo dolls she keeps in her office.”

“But if we don’t we do it because we’re afraid of her then it's like she wins.” Ryder pointed out.  “Again.”

“I’m tired of her winning.”  Tina said quietly.  “And she hasn’t won.  Not yet.  We haven’t lost this yet.”

“Think of the look on her face as she watches us sing on national television.” Unique giggled.  “We do this and you know Mr. Schue is going to make sure she watches every last second.  And figure out a way to make her watch it over and over again.”

“God bless their endless feud.” Artie nodded.  “And Coach Beiste and Mrs. Schue would be all over that too.”

“You’d think he’d video tape it?” Jake wondered.  “Cause that I want to see.”

The chime of an incoming Skype call sounded from Artie’s laptop sitting abandoned on the coffee table.  Grabbing the computer, Artie made the connection and sat it back on the table so everyone could see Blaine and Sam sitting in the loft.

“Dudes!” Sam exclaimed in a surfer drawl.  “This is so totally awesome.”

Jake let out a groan while Ryder cheered.  “I told you! Five bucks!”

Shaking his head Jake dug his wallet out to reach for his money.  “You had to go with Spicolli didn’t you?” he asked glaring at Sam.

“So New Directions.” Blaine grinned into the camera.  “Think we got one more performance in us?”

In Artie’s living room, everyone looked around at each other and exchanged a series of smiles.  Marley leaned back against Matt as he kissed her temple.  Tina left her perch and fell on top of Jake’s lap, causing Ryder to nearly tip over the popcorn bowl.  Kitty perched herself on Artie’s lap.  Unique shot Ryder a wink before smiling brightly and speaking for the entire group.

“The world needs to experience this level of fabulousness for themselves.”

“And we do love L.A.” Jake joked.

Tina clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh! And you guys will get to meet Blaine’s brother!  This will be awesome!”

“No. No.”Blaine shook his head. “There will be no meeting of Cooper.  He’ll insist on teaching that  class again and then I don’t know...try to date Jake’s mom or something.”

“You don’t want to be family with me dude?” Jake put his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt.”

“Since we’re going to do this, may I suggest we actually practice?” Kitty asked rolling her eyes.  “This isn’t karaoke and some of us would like to not embarrass ourselves when we get on camera.”

“We need to pick a song first.” Marley pointed out.

“I have some ideas about that.” Blaine said holding up sheet music for everyone to see.

“Of course you do.” Kitty shook her head.  “Let’s hear it Captain Overachiever.  Tell us your plans so we can tell you how lame they are and move on to my clearly superior suggestions.”

“Miss you too Kitty.” Blaine said sweetly.  “Now does anyone have strong feelings on a Ben Folds tribute?”

 


	72. Chapter 71

Sam threw his freshly rolled up pair of  socks up in the air, catching it as Blaine closed his laptop. They had managed to come up with a pretty wicked idea for a mash up if Blaine could get the arrangement right.  The choreography was simple when they first did the songs but Jake and Matt were both confident they could come up with something that would look awesome and be easy to learn. After all they would probably only have a few hours to actually practice together.  But that was the New Directions way after all. It was like Mr. Schue was psychic and been preparing them for this moment the entire time.

Maybe Mr. Schue went to a witch school too?  Or at least a witch school correspondence course.  He’d have to look into that.

“This is going to be awesome.” Sam threw his socks again.  “Hey this time we are totally going to West Hollywood and hit a gay club.”

“Ok one I’m still engaged so your’s and Ryder’s bizarre dream to be my wingmen at a gay club won't be happening.” Blaine pointed out. “Two my brother would tag along for research purposes so no way is that happening.”  Catching the socks in mid air, Blaine sat down on the uncomfortable looking chair before tossing the sock at Sam’s head, which he easily caught.  

“Hey maybe you and Kurt could do some weird roleplay stuff!  I mean I don’t try to listen to you two but no walls.” Sam shrugged as Blaine blushed, throwing the socks with ease. “We can still go to the club, and Ryder and I can prove what awesome wingmen we are.  Everybody wins!”

“No Sam.” Blaine said firmly.  “We’re only going to be there for like two days tops.”

“Yeah remind me again how long it was between you and Kurt getting back together and you proposing again? I’m just saying a lot can happen in two days bro.”

Whatever retort Blaine had was lost as Santana threw open the loft’s door, with Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes close behind her.  “OK Ambiguously Gay Duo.”  She crossed her arms in front of her.  “If you think for one second I’m going to allow you to ruin TLC you are dumber than your combined stupid hair. If anyone is singing TLC it’s going to be me.”

Sam and Blaine exchanged confused looks. They had only decided their songs a few minutes ago. How did Santana already know what they were going to do?  The answer came to Sam almost as soon as he thought of the question.  He let out a sigh. “Tina.”

“I think she was live texting your entire meeting.” Mercedes smiled as she sat down next to him, kissing his cheek.  “I’m choosing to believe she was just excited and wasn’t trying to gloat.”

“Oh it was gloating.” Kurt said dryly as he placed his messenger bag down on the kitchen table. “There weren’t enough exclamation points and random capitalizations for it to be just excited.”

“Santana is right.” Rachel said, nodding towards her sometimes roommate as she moved to the chair opposite Blaine.  “I enjoy a female empowerment anthem as much as the next independent woman but it undercuts the message to have males, even lovely supportive males of the feminist mindset as yourselves, singing it. Also you will never get Puck to agree to such a choice.”

Sam looked over at Blaine before looking back at Rachel. “Why would it matter if Puck would sing it or not?” he asked slowly.

“New Directions were invited to perform on _national television_.” Rachel said.  “We need to put our best effort out there.”

“Which is why we picked the songs we did.” Blaine answered. Sam was pretty sure they had matching confused looks on their faces.  “We aren’t going to have much time to rehearse so picking songs we’ve performed before seemed the best option.  And Jake and Matt are confident they can get us up to speed before we get on stage.”

Santana waved her hand in dismissal.  “Baby Puckerman and Shaft are going to sit this one out. Everyone knows Britt and Mike are the best dancers we’ve got.”

“But they aren’t performing. We are.” Sam argued.  He barely got the words out before Mercedes, Santana, Rachel and Kurt were all staring at him.  He looked over at Blaine who just shrugged his shoulders.

“Sam, baby.” Mercedes said sweetly taking his hand in hers.  “New Directions was invited and we are a part of New Directions.”

“Well yeah but and don’t take offense because you know I love you and all that but this isn’t about you guys.  This is about us.”

“But we’re apart of this too.” Rachel protested, Kurt nodding along with her from his spot on the arm of Blaine’s chair.

Sam pushed the hair out of his eyes and looked at his friends.  “You guys do realize that when our club was cut, you all came back and pretty much shut us out of actually doing anything about our time in the club right?”

“You guys sang.” Kurt protested.

“We sang along with April Rhodes and Mr. Schue.” Sam corrected.  “And none of the younger kids knew who April or Miss Holiday even were.  And then Mercedes and Rachel went to the Thunderdome on us.”

“We settled that and we graciously accepted the tie.” Rachel pointed out.

“It was a tie because Mr. Schue made it one.” Sam said, ignoring the gasps from Rachel and Mercedes and the quiet snicker from Santana.  “It was impossible for it to be a tie because Blaine voted for Kurt.  Unique voted for herself.  Jake couldn’t decided if he was going to vote black or Jewish so he voted for both of you. Ryder copied Jake’s vote and Kitty’s vote said she refused to participate in something so lame.”

“I forget.  Who did Marley vote for?” Blaine asked.

“Whoever had the cutest shoes.  So I think it was Brittany.”  Sam looked between Mercedes and Rachel. “It was a tie because that’s what Mr. Schue always does.”

He looked around the room.  “It was _our_ club that got cancelled but we spent all week resolving _your_ fights.  And getting Puck and Quinn back together.  You guys don’t need the choir room anymore but Unique? Marley? Jake? Kitty? Ryder? They do.  And they aren’t the only ones.  So we are doing this fight for them. Because they are our friends.  And this is what we should have done when Mr. Schue told us the news.  The New Directions that were on that video were invited and that’s who going to go.  Because it’s about that group.”

“Sam…” Mercedes said softly.  “We didn’t mean…..”

“Look I love you guys but we have to do this. It’s our fight.  And if you want to help by supporting us and coming to watch us, that’s great.  But we don’t need your help to perform.  We got this.”

Sam stood up to go to his corner of the loft.  (The lack of doors never really bothered him but right now? Man just closing the door would feel so awesome after that speech.)  Rachel and Mercedes stood up with him.  Santana tried not to look at him while Kurt just looked down at his and Blaine’s hands.  

“Sam we weren’t trying to take over.” Rachel said quietly.  “We just want to help. We know how important the choir room is.”

“I know you don’t meant too. But you kind of do.  All of you.  And when the group with you guys was great.  Awesome.  But we’re pretty awesome too. And it would nice if you all actually watched us for a change.”

“We’ll be there.” Kurt said quickly.  “ _All_ of us. Even those I have to pull by their extensions.” He glared at Santana.  

“Touch my hair and die Lady Face.”  Santana shrugged her shoulders.  “But yeah I’ll be there or whatever.

“Kurt’s right.” Mercedes nodded. “We’ll be the ones leading the standing ovation.”

“Every successful actress knows how to be a supportive part of the ensemble.” Rachel smiled.  “It will be an honor to lead your cheering section.”  Her smiled brightened.  “This will also be an excellent opportunity to meet up with your brother Blaine and get more insider tips on the acting profession when I make my inevitable move from stage to screen.”

“No. For the last time we’re not seeing Cooper!”

 


	73. Chapter 72

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During We Built This Glee Club, some of us (ok me and my friends) wondered what happened to the trophies New New Directions won since they weren't shown being returned to the choir room. This is my head cannon on what happened.

“So how long are we going to pretend we don’t know what’s going on?” Kitty asked her friends as they waited for Mr. and Mrs. Schue to meet them at the Lima Bean.  “I mean a Mr. Schue pep talk was inevitable as soon as we decided to do this and I’m positive he’ll come bearing sheet music of some lame 80s hair band because predictable much.  And whoever thinks Blaine has a poker face and can keep a secret needs to get psychiatric help immediately.”

“Come on," Ryder shoved her shoulder a little before flashing a grin at her.  “It’s nice to have traditions.  Like we aren’t going to do a show circle before we perform live on TV.”

“Oh! I almost forgot.” Artie snapped his fingers.  “John said they’ll meet us at the airport.  We don’t need to caravan down to Dayton.”

“Who the hell is John?” Tina asked, looking around to see equally blank looks from everyone else.

“John.” Artie said slowly. “The bassist in the jazz band?  He’s only been there for four years with us Tina.  You all really never learned their names?”

“You did?” Jake asked in confusion.

“I was in the jazz band before I joined glee.” Artie reminded them.  “I’m the reason they teamed up with us.”

“Oh right.” Tina snapped her fingers.

“You always have been king of the nerds haven’t you?” Kitty teased before taking a sip of her coffee.

“I’ve always been a leader among men.” Artie corrected.

“Potayto. Potatoe.” Kitty shrugged.  

“Everything’s in your car right?” Marley whispered to Matt, who had his arm draped across her shoulders.  “I know you told me before but I just want this to go perfectly.  The last time wasn’t so great.”

“It’s all in my trunk.” Matt promised before kissing her forehead.  He ignored Unique and Tina’s chorus of awws which made Marley blush.  “When it’s time Jake will help me and everything will be fine. Just relax.”

“I think you two just gave me diabetes.” Unique shook her head, while Kitty rolled her eyes.

“No I’m pretty sure that’s Ryder’s dumb face.” Kitty pointed out.

“Wow. You’re mellowing in your old age.” Jake joked as Tina settled back next to him on the couch.  “Age becomes you.”

“Oh go get your girlfriend pregnant in the bathroom.”  Kitty wadded up her napkin and threw it at Jake’s head which he easily deflected with a swipe of his hand.  

“We’re going to the mall after this?” Unique leaned forward to ask Marley.  “I can’t go to LA in the same clothes I went in the last time.”

“Oh I’m coming too.” Tina chimed in.  “I need some new shoes.”

“Then I have to come to because you have terrible taste in shoes.” Kitty said quickly.  “You are not pulling down my look.  I’ve already had to approve Arthur’s outfit.”

“You let your girlfriend pick out your clothes?” Jake asked while Ryder and Matt shook their heads in disappointment.

“It was either let her have an opinion or deal with Blaine when we get to LA.” Artie said simply. “We all know what the better option there was.”

“Kitty.” Jake and Ryder agreed.

“Blaine doesn’t seem that bad.” Matt protested.  “He seemed pretty laid back when I met him.”

The rest of the group broke into giggles to Matt’s confusion.  “Remind me to tell you about the puppets.” Marley managed to get out between giggles.

“That reminds me. I need to tell Blaine we are not bringing those with us.” Tina snapped her fingers as she pulled her phone out from the pocket of her jeans.

“I’m glad you guys were all able to make it.” Will came up to the group smiling. Emma followed behind him, her stomach just starting to show evidence of her pregnancy.  

“Not like you really gave us a choice.” Kitty mumbled under her breath.  

“Matt!” Will said brightly, going to shake Matt’s hand.  “It really is great to see you again!  You’ll have to come by the apartment sometime so we can catch up.  You still remember where it is?”

“Pretty sure I can find it.” Matt nodded. “Lima hasn’t changed that much.”

“I just wanted to take a minute before you all left to let you know how proud I am of each one of you.  And I wish I could come with you and see you perform the way I know you can perform but I have another…….”

“Your job interview with Vocal Adrenaline?” Tina guessed.  “Yeah good luck with that.  They’ll be lucky to have you as a coach.”

Will looked wildly between his wife and the teenagers in front of him.  Emma shook her head and held up her hands in confusion.  “How did you know about that?” he asked.

“It’s summer.  Gossip about directors is about all the show choir blogs got right now.”  Artie pointed out.  “Blaine’s been asked about it around 75 thousand times already.  Vocal Adrenaline pre-emptively bragging is kind of their thing.  Even if the hiring process takes like a year to get through or whatever.”

“Well whatever comes of that, I’m still your coach and as such I have something for you to take with you.  I left it in the car.  I’ll be right back.”  

Ryder waited till Will exited out the door before leaning forward. “Mrs. Schue?  He knows we aren’t singing Journey right?  No matter what sheet music he found?”

“I told him.” Emma nodded.  “But you know Will.  He wanted to do this for you guys.”

The chimes on the door sounded and Will walked back in, sheet music in hand and Carole Hummel following behind him.  Matt caught Ryder’s eye and mouthed “I’ve got this” as he stood up and moved to the door.  Will shot him a confused look but Matt gestured that he would be right back.

“Hi Mrs. Hummel” Tina said as she stood up to hug her.  “It’s good to see you.”

“You too Tina.” She smiled at the rest of the group, offering up a wave.  “It’s good to see all of you.”

Ryder jumped up and grabbed an empty chair, putting it next to Emma for her to sit down. Carole said a quiet thank you before looking at the assembled group.  “I know you have a lot of things you need to do before you leave but I wanted to let you all know that Mr. Hummel and I are going to be watching with Will and Emma.  And I know you are going to be fantastic.  You’re going to go out and be exactly as amazing as I know you can be.  The way Finn always knew you could be.  You’re going to show the world exactly who should have won Nationals this year and it wasn’t Throat Explosion.”

Artie looked over Emma’s shoulder and saw Matt coming back into the coffee shop.  “Mrs. Hummel?  Not that we don’t appreciate what you said and we’re totally going to go out and kick all kinds of ass on that stage, but I have to be honest. We already knew you were coming today.”

“Kurt told Blaine. Blaine has no poker face.” Marley explained.

“So we had a meeting of our own and came to a decision.” Tina smoothed the front of her t-shirt.  “Sam and Blaine are totally in agreement with us on this.  We know Sue didn’t actually melt all the New Directions trophies for bike racks but put them in storage with the Mathlete trophies.  But at the same time we have reason not to trust her.  So we wanted to give you these. For safe keeping.”

Matt stepped forward, carrying the trophies from Sectionals, Regionals and this year’s Nationals.  Emma let out a soft gasp as Will smiled.  Carole’s eyes began to water as Matt quietly went back to sit next to Marley.  

“They’re Finn’s trophies.” Artie said quietly. “We think you should have them.”

Will leaned over and squeezed Carole’s shoulder as she managed a watery smile.  “How did you guys get these?”  
  


Kitty smiled.  “Let’s just say I know Becky Jackson’s weakness and am wicked talented with a bobby pin.”

“Kitty if Sue finds out you broke into the school and stole…”

“They’re our trophies so I didn’t steal them.” Kitty corrected him.  “And let her find out.  I’m not afraid of Sue Sylvester.”

“Neither am I.” Marley said quickly.

“I’m a little terrified of what she would do with a bronzer without my supervision but of what she could do to me?” Unique shook her head. “Not a chance.”

“If she thought I was like Puck before, let her try something.” Jake promised.

“I’ve faced down worse things than Sue Sylvester.” Ryder said.  “As long as I have these guys she doesn’t scare me.”

“And Tina, Matt and I have graduated and are beyond her reach.  Same with Sam and Blaine.” Artie shrugged.  “Besides didn’t you always tell us New Directions was something no one could take away from us?”

Will chuckled.  “That I did.”  He held up the sheet music.  “Now if I could make a suggestion about your song selection….”

“NO JOURNEY!”  Eight voices yelled causing every customer and employee to look over where the group sat, while Carole and Emma fell into a hopeless case of the giggles.  

 


	74. Chapter 73

It was only a two day trip but between 13 teenagers, parents and all the assorted luggage sitting around the American Airlines departure gate for Chicago at the Dayton International Airport, it was giving Artie visions of an entire town leaving before a natural disaster struck. (Of course he was stuck on what the perfect natural disaster for such a scene was.  There was far too much laughing and smiling to inspire the ideal script scenario but he had faith he would figure it out. It was going to be a long day seeing the inside of airports that’s for sure.)  People were sitting on bags, on the floor, and in each other’s laps.  The parents coming along had taken the few chairs available at the small gate.  Looking around and seeing no one he didn’t already know, Artie figured they would be the only passengers on the small regional plane to Chicago.  It had been a lame joke but he didn’t even blame the gate agent for wondering if there was anyone left in Lima today.

“Ok” Tina announced, not even looking up from her phone as she sat on Jake’s lap. Jake had his back against Kitty’s legs while his were stretched out and resting on Ryder’s stomach.  “Blaine said their flight looks to be on time so they’ll all meet us at the gate for our transfer.  We’ll probably beat them there.  Mike, Quinn and Brittany are going to save seats at the gate for all of us. Mercedes has the car situation all figured out for those who don’t have direct connections with Ellen.  Looks like we are good to go.”

“Yeah we all knew that from the group text Blaine sent out.  But thanks for recapping there.” Kitty said dryly, using the toe of her shoe to kick Tina’s shins, causing Jake to scowl at her.

Marley sat crossed legged in front of  Unique, who was braiding her hair.  Matt was laying at Marley’s feet, playing Nintendo DS games with Ryder.  “So we are all prepared when we are besieged by press and agents after our triumphant performance?” Unique asked as she shook her head at the braid coming out crooked before unraveling it to start again.  “I have research in my bags over what agencies are the best to handle our future success.”

“We’re not going to get discovered.” Marley protested.  “We’ll be lucky if I get through this without throwing up all over your shoes.”

“One, you destroy my new suede pumps and I’ll destroy you.” Unique yanked Marley’s hair for extra emphasis.  “Two, girl you know you’re going to be a superstar.  If it wasn’t for the fact that American Idol is more finished than our popularity at school, I’d be dragging all of us to those auditions.”

“Well that and Ryder’s irrational fear of Ryan Seacrest.” Kitty shrugged.

“It’s his smile.” Ryder held up a finger while not looking away from the video game screen. “I’m telling you he’s an alien.”

“Did we ever tell him about Quinn’s tattoo?” Tina whispered to Artie.

“Nope.” Artie smiled.  “Why do you think I’ve been pushing for a pool party at the hotel?”

“I thought you weren’t trying to kill him anymore?”

“I’m not.  But I have a bet going with Jake on how high Ryder can actually jump when he’s scared and I’m out to win.  I got 20 bucks to collect.”

“You know sometimes I wonder why you and Kitty are together.  And then moments like this happen and I totally get it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You’re sure this is going to work?” Millie Rose leaned over to ask Andrea.  Andrea paused from making sure the camera was in focus to look over at Millie.

“They haven’t noticed yet.” There was no doubt in her mind at some point Jake would question where she got a video camera but Nancy Abrams at least could pretend she was just using an old camera of Artie’s to capture the moment.

the producers had sent the cameras to the parents to capture the kids having fun around LA after hearing about the bus tour/singalong that happened during Nationals.  Looking at the weather report currently playing on the airport television, Andrea felt it may be more footage of bored teenagers in O’Hare Airport thanks to a weather delay but hey she would be happy to be wrong.

“I’m going to miss this next year.” Millie said quietly.  “I mean I know the kids will all still be friends but not being able to see Marley perform the way she was born to?  I’m going to miss that.”

Andrea nodded.  She hadn’t been able to go most of the competitions because of work, but Jake always brought back videos for her to see.  Her son was born to dance and she didn’t care how much he protested, she knew he wanted Juilliard.  He wouldn’t have even brought the brochure home in the first place if he didn’t.  

When he had first joined the glee club, she was happy that he was actually trying to make friends and wasn’t hiding the fact he liked to sing and dance.  And she liked his friends, once he started bringing them around the house.  Even Kitty grew on her, once she realize the girl was more than willing to throw her weight around for the benefit of her friends.  Jake was happier than she remembered him being in a long time.  She hadn’t anticipated him forming a relationship with his brother, but she wouldn’t deny it was good for him to have Noah in his life.  Even if it meant for some uncomfortable moments for her.

And now the glee club was gone and they had a long shot chance to try to save it or at least have one last adventure together.  And she had one more chance to watch her son dance in front of a national audience.  Even if these videos ended up being boring and not used on the show, she was going to hold on to this footage forever.

This was what she was going to court for.  And she wasn’t going to stop fighting for her son’s chance to dance anymore than  Millie was going to stop pushing for Marley to be given a chance to sing.

“Millie, I think we both know the kids are going to ditch us the second we land in LA.  What do you say we have a little parents pow wow?  I think we have plans of our own to make.”

 


	75. Chapter 74

During the entire drive from the hotel to the studio, Tina had told herself to not freak out when they got the green room. They had been in green rooms before. Many times.  It was no big deal. One green room was the same as another.  She was 100 percent not going to get backstage and then lose her mind or be taken over by nerves or any other sort of nonsense.  

Of course that was before they had passed Kristen Bell in the hallway. And before _Veronica Freaking Mars_ had not only agreed to take a picture with them when Ryder (who didn’t seem to know who she was until _Frozen_ was mentioned) asked her but knew who they were.  Somehow they hadn’t noticed the fact she had reblogged the link to Artie’s YouTube page from Bryan Collins.  Even Blaine seemed a little tongue tied by the whole thing and outside of prom last year when Brittany banned hair gel, she had never seen him even remotely flustered.  

And then they came into the room.  Flat screen TV.  An enormous goodie basket with snacks and t-shirts and socks, which the boys were currently throwing around the room like footballs.  Real hair and makeup people working with them instead of her and Unique giving directions to everyone.  

The green rooms in Ohio were _nothing_ like this.

Over on the couch Marley sat at Unique’s feet, smoothing her dress while Unique shook her head at Ryder and Sam running all over the room.  “You are going to ruin those shirts!  I am telling you now Ryder, if you go on national television a sweaty mess we are over.”

Ryder easily jumped over the back of the couch, ignoring the yelp Kitty let out as he used her shoulder for leverage.  He flopped back briefly to kiss Unique on the cheek.  “Doesn’t work. I know you love me.”

“You know nothing.” Unique called after him as he jumped back up tossing the socks towards Artie.  

 

Kitty shook her head before looking over at Unique.  “And you question my judgement in men.”

“Says she who dates Artie.”

Jake came up behind Tina, running his hands down her shoulders.  They had decided on “liberating” (to use Kitty’s word for it) their costumes from Sectionals when they had gone after the trophies.  She knew they would look great on camera but she had to admit it was a little chilly backstage.  She pulled his arms tighter around her and she settled back against his chest.  Jake dropped a kiss on the corner of her forehead.  “You nervous?”  he asked softly.

“I don’t get nervous.”

“That’s a yes then.” Blaine answered with a wink as he walked around them to wear Artie was sitting.  

“Oh please.” Tina rolled her eyes.  “Don’t even act like you aren’t a little bit nervous. This ain’t Six Flags.”

“I still want pictures of you in that polyester outfit.” Kitty said with a sugar sweet smile.  “And I haven’t spent much time with Kurt so far.”

“And you won’t.” Blaine said quickly.  “I’m a little nervous but it’s good for the show. I know we’re going to be awesome.”

Even though the TV was muted, they could see the audience dancing for the pre show warm up.  “How long before Mike just can’t help himself and shows everyone up?”  Artie wondered.

“Five minutes.”  Jake quessed.

“Ten.” Marley offered.

“You’re all crazy.  By the first chorus.” Kitty shook her head.

Artie held up his hands.  “Ok betting pool starts here.  Five dollars, winner takes all. We closing quick folks cause...it’s Mike.”

A knock caused everyone to look over at the door.  The producer who had briefed them on their place in the show stood there, clicking the walkie talkie on her belt off.  “You kids doing ok? You need anything?”

“A promise I’m not going to faint before we get out there?” Marley asked with a nervous laugh.

Unique grabbed one of the sandwiches that had been laid out on a table. “Eat.  Protein.  You know the drill.  And you know you can’t hide your food with me.”

“Everything is going to be fine.  Ellen will be going out to do her opener in about 15 minutes. Then she’ll talk to Kristen Bell and then you’re up.  You’ll do a quick interview and then you’ll do your song.  Good.”  She held up a thumbs up.

Everyone variously nodded while Ryder responded with a double thumbs up.  “We’ll be ready.” Blaine promised.  The producer nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Blaine let out a breath and Tina could see the team leader face he wore fall into place.  “Group warm up and then show circle?”

“Warm up yes but we save the show circle for the stage.” Kitty said authoritatively.  “If we’re going out there to show everyone what we’re all about, then we’re showing them everything. Minus the confusing relationship chart cause no one has time for that.”

Looking around the room, Tina saw all her friends nodded in agreement.  “Come on. Let’s start warming up before Blaine has a heart attack or Ryder knocks the TV off the wall.”

“That happened one time. **ONE TIME**.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the audience danced in their seats as the DJ spun a dance tune that Kurt was only just starting to hear everywhere.  Behind the curtain he could see what he assumed was the jazz band moving their instruments into place.  He hadn't been this nervous since Carmen Thibideaux announced his surprise audition.  This was so much bigger than anything any of them had done so far.  “I’m so nervous for them.” he said quietly to his group of friends.  Mercedes and Quinn nodded their agreement.  Santana rolled her eyes and whispered something to Brittany.  Puck straightened his shoulders and Mike glanced over to the DJ, looking like he was going to go up and suggest a song for the other group to enter to.

“Don’t be.” Rachel patted his hand, her voice full of _don’t argue with me_ bravada.  Kurt realized he was less than five seconds away from another Funny Girl reference.  He reminded himself that Rachel was just excited about getting the role and eventually she would stop reminding everyone about it every five seconds.  “As a seasoned professional performer I can tell you that once you hit the stage, it all becomes natural.  They have learned not only from Mr. Schue’s excellent teaching but our impeccable example.  They will all be fine.”

“Rachel’s right.” It still made Kurt jump to hear Matt speak.  “They’ve been practicing like crazy and Blaine made them do a last minute rehearsal to warm up.  They’ll be fine.”  Seeing the question in Kurt’s eyes about how he could possibly know that, Matt held up his phone.  “Marley texted me.”

The PAs started waving their hands wildly as the applause sign flashed.  A camera swept over the audience as they all smiled and clapped their way back from the imaginary commercial break.  Ellen waited a second before smiling to the camera trained on her.

“You may have seen our next guests on Youtube where their karaoke video of what they said was their last performance went viral. Take a look at this.”  Ellen rolled a few minutes of the group jumping up and down singing _On Our Way_ during Kitty’s party.  At the end of the clip, the audience applauded while the alumni of New Directions screamed and shouted.  “Weren’t they great?   And when I heard their story I knew I had to have them come so I could meet them.  Please welcome the McKinley High School New Directions.

The DJ queued up a version of _Don’t Stop Believing_ as Jake and Ryder did a silly waltz out on to the stage, followed by Tina, Kitty, Unique and Marley doing their impression of a girl group. Blaine and Sam brought up the last of the group, coming in from the stage area with Artie, who insisted on doing his “gangsta” moves that just frankly looked ridiculous.  They all shook Ellen’s hand and settled on the extra long couch brought out just for the interview.

“So you are all in glee club together.” Ellen started.  “And you filmed this video because…”

“We found out after we came back from our Nationals competition that because we didn’t win our new principal cut the funding and next year there would be no glee club.” Blaine stated calmly.

“And you came in what place at Nationals?”  Ellen prompted.

“Second.”  Sam answered quickly.  “And since half of us graduated and are all moving to New York, we realized at Kitty’s birthday party that was going to be one of the last times we were all going to be able to sing together.”

“Well our last chance where it would be socially acceptable.” Kitty cut in.  “Some of us have strange compulsions to sing in places like The Gap.”

“Remind me not to go shopping with you.” Ellen joked as Blaine glared in Kitty’s direction.  “But you know it’s funny you mention that.  See when we asked around and your parents” Ellen pointed to where the moms were sitting in the front row “Your parents told us that none of you could resist a chance to perform together.  So we asked them to do something for us.”

Ellen pulled a small video camera from the side of her chair.  “We sent your parents these cameras and well they gave us the footage.  Now I want everyone here and at home to know this is just the footage from the trip here. Take a look.”

The screen behind Ellen changed and there was Jake and Marley’s mom outside McKinley.  “Hi Ellen!” Jake’s mom said quietly.  “We thought they would at least wait until we got to the airport but…..” The camera panned quickly to show Tina and Kitty doing a version of the swim in the parking lot while Ryder drummed a beat on the hood of his car.  Marley and Unique harmonized in the background while Artie sang _Doo Wah Diddy._  Jake stood next to the car shaking his head before Tina grabbed  his hand and pulled him into dance in the parking lot with them. The camera panned back to the pair of smiling mothers.  “Wait till they meet up with everyone else in Chicago.”

After showing the running tackle hug Tina had given Blaine and Sam as they had approached the gate in Chicago followed by the hugs from everyone else  (While Artie’s mom pointed out most of them had seen each other a month ago and had talked over Skype the night before) there was a close up of the departure board showing a three hour delay due which Jake’s mom explained was due to weather over Chicago.

Then came the dance off on the moving sidewalk that had occupied the first hour.  The group venture to the music store that ended up in a sing along when they realized the store was playing Journey. (Even Santana had been caught joining in with that one.)  The third hour vogue off that Kurt had to admit, Unique totally owned.

As the group on stage laughed and covered their faces, the scene changed on screen. Marley’s mom explained they had just gotten to the hotel and discovered the karaoke night was tonight.  A quick montage showed the various performances from last night before cutting to footage shot from cameras backstage as the group warmed up.

“You know I keep telling people at Pixar that most people don’t just burst into song at the drop of a hat.” Ellen said as she adjusted herself in the chair. “But I guess I was wrong.”

The audience laughed good naturedly at the joke.  Ryder shrugged. “You know sometimes you just do a little Grease number and go on with life.”

Ellen turned towards where the parents were sitting in the audience.  “So is it like that everyday? Just random musical numbers happen?”

“Every day Ellen.” Artie’s mom shook her head.  “Every day.”

“You know what I found really amazing about this is you all won Nationals last year, you came in second this year and you would think your competition would be glad you’re leaving but they have really rallied around you. They want you to stay around.”

“They’ve really been great to us this year.” Marley smiled sweetly.  “Just all the support through everything we’ve been through….. the show choir community is just the best.”

“I wasn’t going to bring that up but you have been through a lot.  You didn’t win your Sectionals Competition but the team that beat you was found to be cheating and was disqualified.  And there was an incident where a gun went off in your school right?”

“Yeah.” Artie said quietly.  “Thankfully no one was hurt.”

“And I’m sorry for bringing this up but one of your co-directors died very tragically in the middle of the school year.  I think I heard your set list for Nationals was a tribute to him?”

“Yeah, they were all Finn’s….”Tina paused and looked over to the audience.  “His name was Finn. They were all his favorite songs.  He never doubted we were going to be there so it seemed right to do them.”

“You come in second, which is amazing. I could never do that and then you get back and find out you no longer have funding for next year.  How many of you are still going to be at McKinley next year.”  Unique, Jake, Ryder, Marley and Kitty all raised their hands.  “So what are you going to do next year without glee club?”

“Who says there will be no glee club?” Unique answered gesturing to the screen. “I think we just proved we don’t need an actual club to sing together.”

“Basically it will be the same as last year. We just won’t have the actual choir room.” Jake shrugged.  “But we’ve kind of accepted the fact we aren’t getting rid of each other any time soon.”

“And I think we all just saw that you don’t need a choir room to perform.” Ellen laughed.  “We’re going to take a quick break and when we come back….The New Directions are going to perform for you.”

 


	76. Chapter 76

Seeing the jazz band waiting for them in the area designated for musical performances helped settle Marley’s nerves.  The interview portion hadn’t been too bad but the producers had gone over everything Ellen had wanted to talk about when they first arrived at the studio.  And the audience seemed to like them.  At least they didn’t boo or laugh when they weren’t supposed to.  

But now they were going to sing, for millions of people watching right now and who knew how many on the internet.  It was definitely more than the audience at Nationals, she knew that much.  She let out a slow breath and caught Unique’s concerned eyes.  

“You ok?” Unique asked quietly as Blaine checked on the band members and everyone else did some last second warm ups.

“They can totally cut if I faint right?”

“You are not going to faint.  You ate.  We know the number and we are going to kill it even more than at Sadie Hawkins.  The boys better bring it or no one is going to remember they did anything but stand there and look pretty.”

“I just don’t want to let you guys down.”

“You won’t.” Unique stepped in front of her and squeezed her shoulders. “Just pretend this is the choir room if we actually listened to the AV squad and changed the entire lighting design.”

“Alright everybody huddle up.” Sam waved for everyone to gather around him.  “You too band!”  he called out.  

Everyone squeezed into a circle, draping their arms over each other’s shoulders. Marley rested her head on Unique's shoulder and smiled as Blaine tickled the back of her neck as he settled beside her.

“Alright guys.” Sam started looking around at the group.  “No pressure but we’re about to be seen by a billion people.”

“That’s the Oscars Sam and no we’re not.” Blaine shook his head.  “Look we’re going to be awesome because that’s what we are.  No matter what happens after this, we’re going make sure when people talk about New Directions, they are going to talk about us being on top.  Now hands in everyone.”

The entire group threw in a hand. Then Ryder threw in his other hand which started a chain reaction of everyone piling their hands on top of each other giggling the entire time. Tina looked at everyone.  “I love you guys. Let’s do this.” she smiled brightly. “On three. One. Two.Three.”

“Aaaaaaaa Amazing!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the music from the DJ died down, Andrea reached over and grabbed Millie Rose’s hand in her own.  Millie reached over for Nancy Abrams, who reached over to Patricia Adams who joined hands with David Wilde.  As Ellen stood up, Andrea could feel them all collectively hold their breaths. This was it.  

“Ok. Here to perform their original mash up of _No Scrubs_ and _Locked Out of Heaven_ , it’s New Directions!”

She could hear the loud wolf whistle Noah let out as the other kids broke into enthusiastic applause.  The girls stood center stage, pounding out the beat with their microphone stands in a semi circle surrounding Artie.  The rest of the boys were dancing around the girls, with Jake clearly being the lead starting a move the other boys would finish.

It wouldn’t have occurred to her that both songs could be used as a conversation but it was working.  Andrea figured it must have been Marley and Blaine who figured that out.  It was working better than she thought it would when Jake had explained the concept to her.  But even if the song had been a disaster she knew she (And the rest of the parents present) would still be sitting there bursting with pride.

The kids were having the time of their lives. It was obvious to anyone who was watching.  And her son, who only smiled if she teased him about it or if there was a girl involved, had the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face.

And that was all she needed to see to know the plan she and the other parents had made was the right one.  If Sue Sylvester wanted to say it was a matter of limited funds which made it impossible to keep the glee club, then they were going to take that argument off the table.  Nancy Abrams had explained about April Rhodes and how her donation had kept the glee club afloat for the last few years and she mentioned Carmel High having a booster club for their glee club.  The rest was easy.  They would form the McKinley High New Directions Booster Club and they would raise all the money the kids needed.  Maybe they wouldn’t have the elaborate props Will Schuester had blown money on and maybe they’d have to get a little creative on the costumes but if the football parents could raise enough money to buy new practice uniforms then surely they could come up with enough money to do competitions.  

The song ended in a flourish with Kitty jumping into Artie’s lap.  The audience stood up for a standing ovation, with the McKinley graduates leading the way, screaming and stomping their feet.  Onstage the kids grinned at each other quickly before falling into their competition bows.  Still clapping Ellen made her way towards them.

“That was fantastic!” she cheered as the crowd quieted down to listen to her.  “Just amazing.  Listen before you go, I have something to tell you.  I really was just moved by your story and I wanted to do something for you. Well something  more than give you a chance to sing here.  So I contacted my friends at Shutterfly and they love good stories as much as I do and well they wanted to give each of you $10,00 dollars that you can use for school.”

As the production assistant ran out with the giant fake checks, Andrea and Millie looked at each other with tears forming in their eyes.  On stage Marley was openly crying while holding onto Sam’s shoulders and Jake looked he could quite believe what had happened.  It wasn’t enough for Juilliard but it was so much more than he had now.  

“Oh and another thing.” Ellen snapped her fingers.  “Since your principal said the glee club was cut due to funding, we’re also giving you $10,000 dollars to help re-establish it.”

As an even bigger check came out, the kids began to jump up and down holding each other.  Led by Puck, the graduates stormed the stage hugging the younger kids and joining in their celebration.  Andrea couldn’t help but laugh as she realized they all were chanting the lyrics to _Don’t Stop Believing_ as Ellen sent the show into a commercial break.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The studios in Burbank weren’t close to any beach, but a quick Google search had informed them it would be quickest to get to the Dockweiler beach.  The parents sat on benches a respectable distance away while everyone else sat in various groups talking quietly while Puck and Mike busied themselves with gathering supplies for a campfire.

Sam sat strumming his guitar as Blaine helped Artie get down from the piggy back ride Ryder gave him to join everyone else on the sand.  Marley was cuddled under Matt’s arm while Unique braided Kitty’s hair.  Tina had her legs thrown over Jake’s lap while telling Mercedes and Santana all about meeting Kristen Bell.  Quinn was listening patiently as Rachel was explaining how backstage in a Broadway theater was more glamorous than anyone could really imagine.  Brittany busied herself with burying Artie’s legs under the sand while Kurt settled next to Blaine.

“Did we really just save the glee club?”  Marley asked, her voice still laced with disbelief.  “That did just happen right?”

“It happened and tomorrow Principal Sylvester is going to watch it.” Artie grinned.  “I may have asked Mr. Schue to tape her reaction if he can figure out how to do it.”

“Artie I swear if you told him….” Tina let the threat linger.

Artie held his hands up in surrender.  “I didn’t tell him. Just like we agreed.  I just texted him that her reaction to the show is something that he will want to relive over and over again.”

“Yeah while he’s at Vocal Adrenaline” Kitty rolled her eyes.

“Once New Directions, always New Directions.” Sam corrected her.  “You know the motto.”

“When we were all in the choir room at the end of the school year, in a million years did you ever guess this would happen like four months later?”  Marley asked.

“Artie could have written this as a script and I wouldn’t believe it.” Blaine laughed.  “But doesn’t that make it even better?”

Puck and Mike returned with a small bundle of twigs and branches.  As they ready the fire, Sam started playing a familiar tune.  At least it was familiar to some members of the group.  “You know what would make it even better?” He asked.  “Singing.”

Sharing a grin, Marley, Unique, Kitty and Tina started the first verse with Blaine, Sam, Ryder and Jake joining in a second later.  The older kids sat and listened as the song rose up in the air.

_Who’s to say_

_Who’s not ok_

_The breakaways_

_Will outlast, will outlast_

_Sticks and stones will break these bones_

_They’re just some drones_

_To get past, I’ll get past_

_Feeling downcast, like an outcast_

_Underdogs, it's time to bite back_


	77. Chapter 76

**Epilogue - 3 years later**

“Really? A coffee shop? Your lack of imagination is as pathetic as always.”

Jake smiled as he turned around and found Kitty standing behind him in line.  Gone was the ever present ponytail from high school, replaced with a shorter cut that she had gotten in a fit of independence an hour before their graduation ceremony.  She and Marley had spent his entire graduation party touching the ends of her hair as if neither one could quite believe she had actually done it.  

“Well I know it’s not The Lima Bean but I thought it was a pretty good option.”  

“Oh yes.” Kitty rolled her eyes.  “Coffee outside of Lincoln Center in New York City is sooo second place to Lima.  Now I know why you and Marley dated.  You’re both lame.”

Jake dropped his arm around Kitty’s shoulders, steering her in front of him to give her order before he gave his.  Taking the cups from the barista he steered them towards the table where Blaine, Sam, Tina and Artie were already waiting for them.  “You can’t fool me. I know you miss her.”

“Lies.  Slander.  I’ll sue.”

“The last time I called I called you, you hung up on me when Marley called.”

“New phone.” Kitty shrugged as she sat down in between Tina and Artie.  Jake did an elaborate bro-handshake with Sam and Blaine, nodding in Artie’s direction before sitting next to Tina.  They had broken up shortly after Tina had moved to New York. Neither one of them wanted to do long distance. After a couple of awkward months they had settled back into a friendship to the point it no longer made Jake cringe when Tina was dating someone.  However now that he was in New York, he had to admit that if they were ever single at the same time he wouldn’t mind revisiting their relationship.

Artie offered up half of his cookie to Kitty, who took it with a smile.  Jake had officially given up on figuring out was going on with them.  They went between off and on so many times they could probably teach soap opera writers a thing or two.  He thought they might be on again, but they may be off or they may be friends with benefits again.  As long as they didn’t involve him in the middle of their drama, Jake really didn’t care.

Blaine looked down at his phone, reading an incoming text message.  “Kurt will meet us when the show starts.  The diner got busy and he can’t leave early like he was planning. He’ll stop by the hotel and pick up your mom”

“He doesn’t have to do that. She’s my mom.”

“And you have to get ready for your debut performance on the New York stage.” Tina shoved his shoulder with a wink.  “Does Rachel need to give you the speech again?”

Jake shuddered.  Rachel had called him up at 3am one night after she found out he had landed a featured spot in the year end review Juilliard put on at Lincoln Center.  Who knew someone was capable of drunk lecturing?  “No. Three times was enough.  It’s a school recital. You’re all making a big deal out of nothing.”

“Number one, we will decide what we make a big deal out of Jake Puckerman.” Unique announced from behind him.  Turning in his seat he found Marley bouncing on her heels as she waved hi to everyone while Ryder balanced their coffee orders.  Unique’s eyes danced with laughter.  “Number two, making big deals out of nothing is kind of our thing.”

“Bylaw 3. Subsection 10. I keep tell you all to read the contracts before you sign them.” Artie shook his head.

Marley made her way around the group, hugging everyone as Ryder and Unique sat down.  “Matt’s sorry he can’t come.  He can’t get out of work.  But he said to tell you not to be a punk and screw this up.”

“Just the support I was looking for. Tell him thanks.”

“Dude that theater is like four times the size of McKinley.  I’d be so nervous I’d pee myself.” Sam said seriously.

“Sam. We...we talked about this.” Blaine shook his head.

“Come on you all know my boy here is going to kill it.” Ryder clapped his hands on Jake’s shoulders so hard Jake almost spilled his drink into Tina’s lap.  “Just like he did when we won Nationals two years in a row.”

“That was all of us. Not just my dancing.” Jake protested.  A part of him was pretty sure the other show choir bloggers regretted their decision to try to stop Sue’s plan to cancel the club.  Not only did New Directions get back to Nationals under Mr. Martinez’s leadership, they had destroyed the competition.  Now New Directions was said in the same breath as Vocal Adrenaline and Throat Explosion.  His little sister Sarah, who was now a freshman at McKinley and the third member of the Puckerman family to belong to New Directions. And she was determined to be the third to win a National championship as well.

“While I’m never one to turn down a compliment,” Artie smoothed the front of his shirt.  “This is big time and we’re going to treat it as such.  It’s also in the contract.  We celebrate each other’s big things even if the person insists it’s no big deal.”

“I don’t remember such things happening when your film was chosen for that film festival.  Or when Blaine did that showcase with that rich old lady.”

“You sugar are the first one to have the good sense to have one of these things at the end of the school year when we can all get here.” Unique bopped his nose.  “And don’t think those two are off the hook either.  I have plans for them.”

“Yes I helped and you should be afraid.” Kitty said at Artie’s questioning look.

“Well this is clearly my last meal then.  I should have picked a better cookie.”

Marley let out a sigh.  “I miss this.  I love OSU don’t get me wrong. But all of us? Together? Hanging out in a coffee shop and probably driving the staff insane?  The Lima Bean just isn’t the same without you guys.”

“I should hope not.” Unique shook her head.  “Because we’ve talked about how you aren’t replacing me.”

Tina rested her head against Jake’s shoulder and rested her hand against his knee.  He looked down at her with interest.  “It’s not the Lima Bean but it’s a good substitute till we’re all home again.”

“Oh God.” Kitty groaned. “Tina’s single again isn’t she?”

Blaine nodded.  “The sex rules are back.”

“None of us are in high school anymore. We don’t need the sex rules.” Tina argued.

“You two do.” Sam, Blaine, Artie and Kitty said in unison.  Marley and Unique erupted into giggles while Ryder tried to hide his laughter.

“It’s my apartment too and it was one time.” Tina huffed in aggravation.

“Walking in on you one time is one time too many.” Artie shuddered.  “You still owe me for therapy.”

“The place may change but I guess we never will.” Ryder smiled.

“I’ll drink to that.” Marley held up her mug in the middle of the circle.  One by one everyone else did the same.

“Are we really going to do this everytime we’re together?” Kitty asked.

“Contract.” Artie said with a smile.  “ Let’s go. We all know what to say.”

“AAAAAAAAA-amazing.”


End file.
